


Get In Gear

by Guardian_of_Hope



Series: Summer's Boys [11]
Category: Power Rangers RPM
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe, F/M, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Slash, Threesome - F/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-23
Updated: 2014-03-11
Packaged: 2017-10-19 17:47:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 44
Words: 99,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/203516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Guardian_of_Hope/pseuds/Guardian_of_Hope
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The bond of the Trio has been shattered and put back together, but still weak.  Can it stand up to new Rangers, threats, relationships and revelations?  With so much history and betrayals surrounding them, will they be able to pull it together and destroy Venjix?  At the end of all things, will they even want to?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It's Getting Interesting

**Author's Note:**

> Get in Gear (GiG) is the sequal to Year of the Trio. It begins two months after the events of Year of the Trio. This story will contain a threesome, Scott/Summer/Flyn, which I call 'the Trio'. There will also be slash. There are also warnings for off-screen/past torture and abuse, on and off screen character death and a few other things I can't think of right now, but will be warned of in the appropriate author notes. This story works with the events of the RPM season, but is to be considered an Alternate Universe.
> 
> References Episodes One (The Road to Corinth) and Two (Fade to Black)

It was Dr K who snapped first, "Ranger Red, you have a lesson with Major Bradley in half an hour, might I suggest you leave early? Ranger Blue, there is a shopping list in the kitchen, why don't you take that and see what you can find? Ranger Yellow, you have simulation training starting now."

The three Rangers stared at her screen for a long moment, blinking at the sudden interruption to their argument. After a moment, Scott nodded, "Of course, Doctor K, I hadn't realized the time." He pivoted and walked away, his back arrow straight. She winced at the way he peeled out.

Flynn grabbed the list and followed Scott while Summer headed upstairs to change. Dr K turned to look at the screen where Dr. Kendall was waiting, "You see," she asked rhetorically. "They haven't stopped fighting for the past two weeks, but I can't find a cause for it."

"I don't know either," Dr. Kendall replied, "I know Conner and everyone were pretty tense at times, usually when one of them was in trouble, but they knew when there was trouble. This, I don't know that I can explain."

"Then I'm expected to put up with this?" Dr K asked, "If this keeps up, I'm going to start shooting people."

"As amusing as that is," Dr Kendall replied, "you might want to wait a few days. Maybe something will happen to clear this up."

"Then something _else_ will happen," Dr K muttered, "these three can't go a week without something happening to one of them."

Dr Kendall let out a burst of laughter, "I'm sorry," she said when she was calm. "It's just, welcome to mentoring the Power Rangers. It doesn't make sense, but it's a fun ride. Just be glad your group is science based and not magic based."

"I am," Dr K replied, thinking of some of the stories she'd heard. One of her consoles beeped and she turned to it. A subroutine alert from the control tower, someone was about to call her. She turned to Dr. Kendall, "I have to go. Colonel Truman's about to call me."

"All right," Dr. Kendall replied, "I hope everything works out."

Dr K managed a tight smile before the connection cleared. Then she checked the security feeds to find out the source of the alerts. A runner, a single vehicle with a driver crazy enough to run the barricade. She studied the biofields, and hit a button on her communications system. "Yes Doc," Scott said promptly.

"Civilians are attempting to breach the barricade in Zone Alpha, prepare to go to Gate 22 to cover for them," Dr K replied.

"On it," Scott replied.

Next button, "Aye Dr K?" Flynn asked, sounding frustrated.

"There are civilians attempting to breach the barricade in Zone Alpha, prepare to go to Gate 22 immediately." Dr K replied.

"Aye Doctor," Flynn replied, "I'll go shopping again later."

Finally, she activated the on base com, "Ranger Yellow," she said.

"Yes, Doctor?" Summer asked, her voice exhilarated and distracted.

"There are civilians in Zone Alpha," Dr K replied, "go to Gate 22 to provide support."

"Yes, Doctor," Summer replied smartly.

Dr K triggered her own camera system, watching as the black car roared through the gate. She reached for a box of marshmallows and waited. She did not watch her team, but the new comers. She dismissed the curly haired teen and focused on the older one. There was something in his expression that was familiar. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, struggling for the memory.

"You ok?" Scott asked, jolting her from the memory hung.

Summer's affirmative brought her back to the fight in time to make sure the downloads went smoothly. Of course, there was that small thrill she got by calling the invasion before Colonel Truman could point it out. For the duration of the fight, she focused on her Rangers and mostly ignoring the two survivors. Colonel Truman would handle them without her input.

After the fight was over, she observed her Rangers making contact with the pair. When the one was revealed to have Venjix technology, she quietly sighed. She still hadn't finished the scanners that would let her detect the Androids from a distance. To distract her Rangers, she contacted them, "Rangers," she said, "Please bring the remnants of the attack bot to the Garage for testing."

"Yes Doctor," Scott said.

Keeping the screens focused on the Rangers, Dr K contacted Dr Kendall, "I think I'm going to need some advice," she told her lab partner.

"What kind of advice?" Dr Kendall asked, clearly surprised.

"I'm not sure," Dr K said, "there's something about our newest refugees that makes me feel uneasy. Not to mention Scott was sounding weird when I contacted him a few minutes ago."

"How can I help?" Dr Kendall said, leaning forward.

"Make plans to come by the Garage sometime soon," Dr K replied.

"I'll clear a day," Dr Kendall promised.

Her comm went off, "I'll talk to you alter," Dr K said and shut down the link. Colonel Truman was waiting for her, "Can I help you Colonel?"

"I'm sending you some interesting information," Colonel Truman replied, "about our refugees. One of them is a citizen of Corinth, but it's the other one that I'm concerned about."

"The android," Dr K said.

"Actually, he's a cyborg," Colonel Truman said, "I think."

Dr K opened the information and scanned it, "I see," she mused. "Incredible, I wonder what Venjix thought he'd accomplish with this."

"I guess we'll never know," Colonel Truman replied, "I'm concerned that he's controlled by Venjix."

Dr K stared at the information, "I don't think he is, sir. Look at the cranial implants, they're focused on the audio/aural externals. It's entirely possible that there is no control component. You will let me know what he has to say."

"It doesn't sound promising," Colonel Truman replied, "he's claiming complete amnesia."

Dr K hummed for a moment, then glanced up, "I'm not a medical doctor, Colonel, to be able to say one way or another. If that's the sort of opinion you're looking for, I would recommend you speak with the medical personnel."

"I already have," Colonel Truman said, "They'll be over to give him a complete physical within the hour."

"Who did you ask? If it's Gehrig, the man is an imbecile," Dr K said.

"No," Truman replied, "Doctor Mitchell agreed to oversee the physical, with Charlie Thorne as her nurse."

"The ex-Rangers," Dr K said, "at least they won't be too surprised by everything."

"Indeed," Truman said dryly.

Dr K glanced up as the automatic door alert sounded, "The Rangers are back, Colonel, if you'll excuse me. I need to go over the attack with them, and examine the bot."

"Of course," Colonel Truman replied, "I'll keep you updated on the cyborg."

Dr K cut the transmission, "Rangers," she said, "I trust that you have solved your earlier conflict."

"Yes sir," Scott said, he was clearly embarrassed, "I'm not sure what set the whole thing off in the first place."

"Me either," Flynn said as he headed for the kitchen.

Summer shrugged, "Something's felt off lately," she said, "it's been making me more irritable, I think. Not to mention the nightmares."

Dr K refrained from commenting, she remembered all too well the night a week ago when she'd been up late programming and Summer had started screaming loud enough to be heard without the microphones. Comments from the other Rangers said that they had all had nightmares, this particular set had started three weeks ago. Flynn appeared from the kitchen with water bottles and a plate of grapes to pass around, "Aye," he said, "let's not mention the nightmares." He exchanged a wordless look with Scott as they claimed their seats.

"Just out of curiosity," Scott said as he and Summer took grapes from the plate, "do we know anything more about those two refugees?"

"One of them is from Corinth," Dr K said, "according to the records, he vanished about three weeks ago. No one knows how he got out of Corinth."

"And the other?" Flynn asked as he opened his water bottle.

"A cyborg," Dr K replied, "with amnesia, apparently. We'll know more when the tests are done. Now, about the attack 'bot," she called up an image for them, "I need to scan it before I know more."

Summer grabbed a scanner and began to pass it over the attack bot while Flynn held pieces up for Dr K to look at and scan with her other technology. It wasn't the first time she'd assigned them to help her in this manner, and the routine was well known.

The minor disagreement between Scott and Flynn about needing new operators was a new addition to the discussion, but Dr K let it slide. Instead, she turned her attention to analyzing the information from the attack 'bot. "Dr K," Summer said, "do you have a minute?"

Dr K glanced up and found Summer in the Ranger Room with the door shut, "What do you wish to know, Ranger Yellow?"

"The cyborg," she said, "I was wondering if we knew if it was a Venjix plant."

"So far, there is no evidence to suggest such a thing," Dr K replied.

"If he isn't," Summer said, "do you think he could be Series Black? I know that the Black has some very specific requirements."

Dr K blinked, wondering what had prompted her yellow ranger to make such a suggestion, "Perhaps," she said finally, "we would need to put him through the testing, of course."

Summer nodded, "Do you think, if I asked, would Colonel Truman permit me to talk to him; to see if he would be interested in joining the Ranger program?"

Dr K stared at her screen, studying Summer's sky blue eyes. There was nothing there beyond nervousness and concern, but Dr K couldn't help feeling that the Ranger had something on her mind. "I will contact Colonel Truman," she said finally, "to see if it is feasible."

Summer smiled, "Thank you, Dr K."

"As I said before," Dr K felt compelled to warn her, "he has to complete the tests before he can earn the Ranger Black morpher."

"Of course," Summer said. She hesitated for a moment, "Dr K, would you not tell Scott and Flynn about this? Flynn isn't going to trust anything that's part machine, and Scott gets jealous if I talk to a reporter. I want to make sure that we have a viable candidate before I present him to those to."

Again, Dr K stared at Summer's projected image, trying to see beyond the physical. She almost wished she had Dr Kendall's knack for looking at people and understanding their emotions. "I will tell no one," she told Summer, "I leave this in your hands for now."

Summer smiled, "Thanks, Dr K." She started to head for the door.

"Just a moment," Dr K said, calling up her personal link to the Colonel, "I'll ask Colonel Truman right now."

"All right," Summer said.

"Dr K," Colonel Truman said.

"Colonel Truman," Dr K replied, "I have a request concerning the cyborg."

"What would you like to know?" Colonel Truman asked.

"Ranger Yellow has made an interesting proposal," Dr K said, "if the cyborg is proven to be who he says he is, it is possible, given the enhancements from Venjix, that he will be an ideal Ranger Black."

"What?" Truman said.

"I am not convinced," Dr K continued, "but I believe the idea has merit. Ranger Yellow would like to speak to the cyborg today."

"We don't know if he's safe," Truman began.

"Ranger Yellow is a competent fighter, Colonel Truman," Dr K snapped, "and can handle anything she comes up again. This is not an idle request, this is a serious concern."

Truman sighed, "All right," he said, "I'll let Ms. Lansdown speak with the cyborg. That doesn't mean I'll release him into Ranger custody immediately."

"Thank you," Dr K said dryly and killed the connection. "Colonel Truman has agreed to permit the meeting, Ranger Yellow. However, he wishes it to be understood that this does not mean he would release the cyborg to Project Ranger."

"I understand," Summer replied. "I'm going to go shower and change."

Dr K watched Summer bolt for her room, and wondered how the new comers would fit into their lives. It certainly promised to be interesting.


	2. Interesting Meetings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lines you may recognize come from Fade to Black...

  


Summer watched Colonel Truman talk to the cyborg, Dillon, and thought about the changes she'd undergone in the past year. She was far removed from the spoiled brat she'd once been, having undergone a sort of forced maturation when Venjix's drones had killed the man she honestly thought of as a second father, forcing her to cross a battle ground to get to the safety of Corinth. Then she'd stepped outside of herself, first to defy her parents, and second to rescue the sole surviving pilot of Corinth's air defense. Finally she'd left everything she'd thought of as her dreams to join that self-same pilot and his Scottish partner to become a Power Ranger.

A year ago, when she'd put on her morpher, she had never expected what had actually happened. The two men she had thought, hoped, would become friends had become so much more, best friends, brothers, lovers, she wasn't sure what to call them. Mostly, she settled for partners. It was only right, after all. She trusted and depended on them in ways that were frightening sometimes, but also felt as natural as breathing. Even after their disastrous night of drunken lovemaking, when she feared a single harsh word would send them tumbling like a house of cards, she couldn't stop loving them.

Not to mention the time travelers who had shown up and fixed everything with an easy confidence that she still envied. Two reds, Conner and Hunter, had grounded Scott and helped him plant his feet again and look her in the eyes once more. Two yellows, not just healers, but soul healers, who had given her direction and purpose. Dustin, the more mystical of the two for all his self-proclaimed 'scientific mind', and Kira, the analytical yet gifted musician; they had done more for her and her team in three days than any other person had done in a month. Finally, a blue ranger and green ranger who had given Flynn companionship and challenged him to gain a greater understanding of the Ranger tech. Those six had found them bent and weakened, hanging onto each other with fingers and dreams, and had left them with on solid ground, with the beginnings of their healing started.

Now, Summer had to make a choice. She could step into that cell and talk to Dillon, then convince Scott and Flynn to let a stranger into their world, or she could walk away and forever wonder if she had done the right thing. She set her shoulders, because she was Summer Landsdown, she'd survived the road to Corinth, and been tempered in the forge of the Power, and she  _would not_  let her city fall because she was afraid. "Colonel, may I have a moment?" She requested.

Summer didn't particularly like Colonel Mason Truman, if she was honest with herself. She'd spent most of the past year trying to help Scott deal with his mixed emotions in regards to the Colonel, his father; not to mention her first meeting with the man had been when he had made the choice,  _the wrong choice,_  to deny his living son even a moment of comfort or an acknowledgement of shared grief. Still, Summer had been raised in the upper echelons of society and had learned early on how to act around people that she didn't particularly like, but had to get along with. Today, when their eyes met, she thought she saw a slight thawing in his 'utterly professional' demeanor, and she wondered if Dustin's parting shot about 'remove your head from your ass before it's too late', was starting to sink in.

"Alone at last," Dillon said as she sat down. Summer fought a smile as she looked at him, Scott was going to hate his attitude. "Can I be honest with you?"

"Give it a shot," Summer replied, wondering what he would say.

"Yellow is definitely not your color," Dillon said, giving her a once over.

Summer sat back,  _Is that how you want to play it, boyo?_  She thought, and smiled at him. "Truth for a truth," she said, "that car of yours, is clearly a sign that you're compensating for something."

Dillon's eyebrows went up and down in momentary surprise, "Bringing out the big guns already? I would have thought a princess like you would never have thought of such things."

 _Princess?_  Summer thought, "Can I ask you a question," she said aloud.

"Let's hear it," Dillon replied.

"Do you have to work hard at the whole brooding bad boy thing? Like, seriously, do you get up and practice every morning in front of the mirror?" She smiled slightly as she saw a hint of respect in his eyes, "I'm Summer."

"Dillon," Dillon said, "you can call me Dillon."

"And can I ask you another question, Dillon," Summer began,  _gotcha,_  she thought.

"Look, I'm tell you people the truth," Dillon replied, "I don't know who I am or where I came from."

"I don't care where you came from," Summer said as she pulled out her 'big guns', the pocket watch that had been taken from him when he'd been arrested. From the way he stared at it, she could tell that it meant everything to him. "I want to know where you're going." She put the watch on the table, it had been tested and was nothing more than a watch and could be returned to him. "Nice meeting you Dillon," she said and left.

Finding the Colonel waiting for her outside the cell block, she nodded, "What do you think?" Colonel Truman asked.

Summer glanced back, as if she could see the lonely young man through the rocky walls of the mostly underground prison. "I think I'm going to have a fight on my hands." She replied, and looked at the Colonel, "He's our Series Black, even if he doesn't know it yet."

"That Venjix technology," Truman began.

"Is only one part of him," Summer interrupted him, "and a physical part only. Doctor K and every other medical person you've had in here to test him agree. None of the hardware is fitted for mind control. All the technology will do is make him the best Series Black operator we have, and we  _need_  Series Black. Doctor K and I are working out ground rules for him to satisfy even the most paranoid person in the Defense, guidelines that probably should have been in place before now." Summer gave him a measuring look, "Doctor K also said that I would have to remind you that while Project Ranger has always enjoyed the support, good will and advice we've received from the military we are autonomous and are free to make personnel decisions without your approval."

"That's true," Truman agreed, "but I highly doubt Scott and Flynn will accept a Venjix cyborg on the team."

Summer's smile was more of a snarl, "That is none of your concern." She pivoted and stalked off, reclaiming her helmet from the guards at the entrance on her way by.

As she pulled into the Garage, however, Summer couldn't help but feel a little uncertain. Getting Dillon here, where he belonged, wasn't going to be easy. "Hey Summer," Scott said as she pulled off her helmet, "Where have you been?" The Red Ranger had the hood up on his car and was checking the oil.

"Checking into something," Summer replied, "where's Flynn?"

"Right here," Flynn called from upstairs.

"We need to talk," Summer said, "and neither of you are going to like it." She headed for the Ranger Room. "But I need to talk to Doctor K first."

"All right," Scott called after her.

"I take it your meeting went well," Dr K asked as the door to the Ranger Room slid closed.

"About how I expected it to," Summer replied. "Dillon will make a good addition to the team."

"Rangers Red and Blue are not going to take this will," Doctor K warned her.

"I know that," Summer replied, "which just means that I'm going to have to muster up my best arguments for this."

"What was your impression of the cyborg?" Dr K asked.

"He's arrogant," Summer said, "and crudely charming, but he isn't cruel. He may have taken a cheap shot or two, but that was because he was expecting to be rejected by me, same as he's always been. He's also focused on that pocket watch of his. Even if he can't remember what it meant, it's important to him now. It's probably the only thing he has that could be called a link to his past."

"Do you think his past will prove to be a problem?" Dr K asked.

"No," Summer said after moment, "I don't know. His past defines him, but I get this feeling that it's because that's all he's ever really had. I think that becoming a Ranger will give him a focus outside himself." She crossed her arms, "Not to mention it might shake off some of that arrogant bad boy attitude he's got going."

"I will help you convince Rangers Red and Blue," Dr K said, "I agree that this cyborg is exactly what the team needs." He opened the door to the Ranger Room.

"Scott," Summer called, "Flynn, can we talk?" She bit her lip as her teammates filed into the Ranger Room,  _here goes nothing._

"What's up?" Scott asked as he came up beside her. He pushed some of her lose hair from her eyes, "Is everything ok?"

Summer smiled tightly, "Everything's fine Scott." She put a hand on Flynn's shoulder. "I just had a somewhat stressful, but very interesting meeting today."

"What meeting?" Flynn asked, exchanging a glance with Scott.

"I went to meet one of the survivors who came in today," Summer replied. "The cyborg, to be exact."

She bit her lip to suppress her sudden, and wildly inappropriate urge to laugh, it wasn't often that she got the chance to make Scott and Flynn look like they'd been blindsided by two by fours. Usually, she was the one trying to keep up with some improbable announcement, usually tied to a bet.  _That,_  she thought with a strong measure of satisfaction,  _is for the 'come to the dark side' joke, and the constant Men in Black quotes, and the thirty seven times you've tried to kill yourself by driving that jeep off a cliff, or stairs, or into a tree. I told them every time that I would get my revenge for having a good ten years scared off my life and I have finally achieved it._

"Why did you do that, were you trying to make it easy for Venjix to kill you?" Flynn demanded, finally getting control of himself. Scott was still standing stiffly, his mouth half open, his breathing sounding somewhat harsh as he struggled for emotional control.  _Overprotective male,_  Summer thought uncharitably.

"No," Summer said, "I wasn't. Dillon isn't under Venjix's control."

"How do you know that?" Flynn asked.

"Doctor K, would you bring up the test results," Summer asked.

"Certainly, Ranger Yellow," Dr K replied.

Summer gestured, "They've done exhausted tests on Dillon since his arrival, and every one of them says the same thing. Dillon has cybernetic enhancements, yes, but  _none of them_  directly affects his cerebral cortex. The closest implants are meant to enhance his hearing and eyesight. Whatever else Dillon is, and I'd say he's arrogant, cold, dismissive and crudely charming, when it comes down to it, Dillon isn't on Venjix's side. I watched him talk to the Colonel before I went in, and I would say that it's entirely possible that he hates Venjix even more than any civilian in Corinth and probably more than most of the ex-Rangers."

"He isn't human," Scott said.

"Yes he is!" Summer replied, "Whatever Venjix did to him, I don't think that Dillon chose it. If anything he's more of a victim than anything else."

"Did you suggest that to him?" Flynn asked.

"No," Summer said, scornfully, "but I did figure out a few things. Dillon wants to belong somewhere, and I think if we gave him a chance, that somewhere could be right here. He's admitted to knowing how to fight, so it's not like we'd have to train him from scratch."

Flynn hissed, "I'm seeing metal," he began and Summer bit her lip,  _here we go,_  she thought.

  



	3. Impressive Enough

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> References and some dialogue from Episode 2: Fade to Black

_It's nice to have allies,_ Summer mused as she watched the security feed Dr K had provided her, "If that isn't impressive," she said, "then Scott must have hit his head harder than I thought." She stopped the tape.

"Ranger Red does seem to be somewhat irrational," Dr K agreed.

"That's because Scott is jealous," Summer replied with a faint smirk; "he doesn't like the idea of me being interested in people he hasn't approved of."

"Are you interested in the cyborg?" Dr K asked.

"Only as a teammate," Summer said. She strolled out into the garage and found Scott and Flynn sitting in the briefing area, "Perfect." She smiled at them, "Scott, I want you to watch this, Flynn too." She pointed her remote at the K screens and started the security footage from the beginning.

After it had rolled, she looked at the two of them, "Impressive enough for you?" She asked Scott challengingly.

"Enough," Scott said after a moment, "it still doesn't mean he has the right mentality or temperament."

"Then come talk to him," Summer said, "give him a chance. I think Dillon is exactly what Project Ranger needs."

"Fine," Scott replied. "Although I doubt my dad's going to just let us have him."

"Colonel Truman doesn't have a choice," Dr K said, "if we want the cyborg, then we'll get him."

"Let's go meet the cyborg then," Scott said.

"Scott, I'm still not sure this is a good idea," Flynn said, "I mean, he does have Venjix hardware in him."

Scott nodded, "Flynn, tell me what you're thinking."

"Well, if Dillon didn't have the hardware," Flynn said, "I'd be willing to test him, but we have no guarantee he's on our side."

"We have no proof that he isn't," Summer replied.

"Summer," Scott said, "I let you take point on this because you have a good head on your shoulders, but that doesn't mean this isn't a group decision. Flynn has valid concerns."

"According to the tests we've run on the cyborg," Dr K said, "we have found no traces of Venjix in his programming and what programming exists is entirely on the physical plain. There are a few tests I would need him physically present to conduct, but given what has already been done, we can rest assured that at this time Dillon is in control."

"And what if he's a sleeper," Flynn retorted, "what if he's just waiting for us to trust him before attacking? We're inviting him into the heart of Project Ranger, can Venjix activate programming in him to take us out?"

"I cannot make that determination without having the cyborg on base," Dr K replied, "however, if the cyborg joins Project Ranger, then I will conduct those tests. I highly doubt at this stage that the cybernetic implants could be removed without gross injury to the cyborg, however, there are programs that can be put into the cybernetics that can serve as inhibitors to the Venjix code. They were developed to prevent Venjix from controlling medical implants, but I have no doubt we can successfully adapt them to this task."

"Flynn," Scott began.

"I can't believe you're just going along with this," Flynn interrupted him, "open your eyes. How do you know that we can trust him?"

"Because I can trust you," Scott replied, "and I can trust Summer. When Doctor K and I were running the tests for our new Blue Ranger, I didn't know if I'd pick the right person. I had to trust my instincts and so far, they've proven me right. From the moment, I turned on that camera to look at everyone and saw you, there wasn't another candidate that was good enough. You felt the same way about Summer, and you know it. You wouldn't admit it then and you probably don't remember, but the minute you told me about the pretty blond I knew you'd found our third. Now, I'm trusting Summer, because she knows, just like you and I did. Furthermore, Summer convinced Doctor K and the Colonel to let her look into him and now Doctor K is backing her up."

Flynn stared at him for a long moment, stunned, upset and afraid. Summer kept silent, because Scott would have to get Flynn to give Dillon a chance, not her. "Scott," Flynn said, something in him relaxing.

Scott kissed him, stepping into his personal space, latching onto his jacket, and taking control in less than a minute. Summer gripped the table, sternly telling herself that no matter how hot the image was, she couldn't melt. "Talk to him," Scott said pulling back to look into Flynn's eyes, "if you still think we shouldn't trust him, then we'll talk this out. I don't want someone out there you can't trust to watch your back."

"Thank you," Flynn replied, a little dazed and unsettled. He put his head on Scott's jacket, "thank you for listening."

"That's my job," Scott told him, slipping a hand around Flynn's waist carefully, "and my pleasure." He held his free hand out to Summer, who slid around the table to accept it, but hesitated to let him draw her in.

"Thank you for listening," Summer said instead, "both of you. No matter how crazy I sounded, I'm glad you did."

Flynn reached out a hand and slid it down her arm, "Dustin said we needed to learn to communicate," he said, head still buried in Scott's shoulder.

Scott's stomach growled, making Flynn jump and Summer laugh. "Let's eat," Scott said, "before we do anything else."

Summer nodded, "I do want to talk to Colonel Truman at some point," she said, letting Scott and Flynn lead her into the kitchen. "The way those goons made the guard leave just with a hand gesture? What sort of people do they have working at the prison, it's bad enough that they're underground most of the day."

"Maybe he'll assign Cooper to investigate," Scott said, "undercover."

Summer glanced over at Flynn, who gave Scott an exasperated yet fond look as he freed his hand from Summer. "We can but hope," the blue ranger opined piously.

"If he doesn't," Summer said, "we should do something about that him. I think we've let the insult go unanswered for long enough."

"What, like a prank?" Scott asked.

"Maybe," Summer replied, claiming a stool and watching Flynn make lunch. "You need to talk to Doctor Oliver, Scott."

"Why?" Scott asked.

"Because he's a former black ranger," Summer said, "and if black initiations are anything like the red ones, Dillon might bolt on us." She glanced at her teammate casually, "Are you ever going to let us watch the rest of that record?"

"Not a chance in hell," Scott replied, getting water bottles from the fridge.

"Why not?" Flynn asked distractedly, "It's not like we haven't done stupid things when we were drunk."

They all went still for a long moment, then Summer forced an uncomfortable laugh, "Tell me about it, I still remember the cookies."

"Enough with the cookies," Scott said, "we only did it once!"

"What about my pool table then," Summer countered, "you broke it, what, five times?"

"We made it better," Scott protested.

"Enough," Flynn said, sliding plates with warm casserole across the counter. "If Summer's sick of hearing the cookie story, then I'm tired of hearing her complain about her pool table. It's not like we play her anymore."

"Yeah," Scott said, "you're too good at it."

Summer smirked, "Wouldn't you like to know why?"

"One day," Scott retorted, "I will know why." He ducked his head and began to eat, Summer smiled and followed his example.

Their arrival at the prison caused some stir, especially when they mentioned wanting to meet Dillon. Summer thought it was probably because of the somewhat wide spread corruption she suspected was going on in the prison, but kept her mouth shut on any observations she had until she saw Dillon on the monitors. He was handcuffed, with his arms chained to his sides, and then to the chair, with extra chains being fed outside the cage to guards. Four guards surrounded him with handguns pointed at his head and chest. "Is that really necessary," she asked the guard who was taking them in, "he looks like he can barely breathe."

"Ms, uh, Ranger Yellow," the guard replied nervously, glancing up at the monitor in fear, "you didn't see what he did when we tried to put him in the general population."

"Actually," Summer replied, "I did see the video footage." She smiled tightly when the guard swallowed and paled a little more.

"We all did," Scott added in a bored tone, "I'll be honest, it was quite enlightening to see just how unbiased security is around here."

Summer stepped past the stunned guard and around the corner into the meeting room, "Dillon," she said, doing her best to ignore the guards and chains when something inside of her was aching to morph and bust her teammate free; "this is Scott."

"Scott Truman, team leader," Scott said with a slight nod. From the cocksure attitude, Summer knew that Scott was just as pissed off as she was.

"And this is," Summer continued.

"Flynn," Flynn said, giving Scott a look, "just plain Flynn." Flynn was hard to read when he wanted to be, and right now, he clearly wanted to be inscrutable.

"And there's someone else I'd like you to meet," Summer continued, "the man behind all the Ranger technology." She let Flynn put Dr K's portable screen on the table.

"Greetings Dillon," Dr K said, "my name is Dr K."

Summer glanced at Scott and Flynn, because it was very rare for them to hear Dr K use someone's given name, unless you counted Jinx. They had, in fact, joked at the verbal acrobatics Dr K had employed with the Dino Thunders and the Ninjas. Dillon, on the other hand, scoffed, "Man, I thought I was weird. You guys, beat me by a mile." Summer held herself still, watching him, "Dr K? That's too much, you guys are just."

Summer hit Scott discretely with her elbow, "The only chance you have of ever getting out of here," Scott interrupted him, leaning forward on the table. He didn't look at her, so she kept her face still, hiding the smile at how smoothly he eased away from her.

"And what do I have to do," Dillon countered, "buy a ticket in your little freak show?" Summer crossed her arms briefly, more to restrain the urge to smack him upside the head than anything.

"Not exactly," Flynn replied. Summer could have sang out loud, she knew getting the boys to meet Dillon was the right choice, she had _known it!_

"You have to join us," Summer said instead, dropping her arms and sliding her hands in her pockets to keep herself from being tempted.

"So, what's it going to be Dillon," Scott continued, "are you in, or are you out?"

 _I am good!_ Summer silently shouted.

"Well now that all depends," Dillon said, and Summer stopped her mental celebration, "do I get to pick my own color?"

Summer blinked and fought to keep the smile off her face, because Dillon was going to fit into the Garage perfectly. Scott huffed a laugh and shook his head slightly, "We were going to offer you the Series Black morpher," Scott said, cutting off Dr K. "But, you know, we could give you the green."

"I would prefer the Black," Dillon said after a brief moment, as if to think it over.

"Somehow, I thought you would," Flynn said, picking up the K screen.

"We're going to go see about getting your release," Summer told Dillon, "we should have you out of here in no time."

"What about my car?" Dillon asked.

"I'll look into it," Flynn said, "they are my specialty after all."

"You do that," Scott agreed, "Summer, with me."

They retreated from the cell and walked back through the security gates, "I see what you mean," Flynn said, looking at Summer, "he's not what I expected."

"He wants to belong," Summer replied, "but because of what Venjix did, he's become accustomed to being alone."

"I'd say he's desperate to belong," Scott said.

"Maybe," Summer replied, "but he needs to do this on his own terms."


	4. Communication is Key

"Scott," Dr Oliver said as he stepped out of his van.

Scott smiled tightly, from where he leaned against his car, "Doctor O," he said, "thank you for agreeing to meet with me."

Dr Oliver smiled, "It isn't every day that the Red Ranger asks for a meeting, what can I do for you?"

Scott glanced around the park and nodded towards a bench set just in sight on a jogging path, "Let's sit over there, this may take some time."

"All right," Dr Oliver replied.

They walked silently to the bench while Scott thought about his request, and the possible reactions from Dr Oliver. As they sat down, Scott rested his elbows on his thighs and stared at the ground. "We think we've found our Series Black operator," he said finally.

"Really," Dr Oliver said, "I was under the impression that the physical requirements were making it near impossible."

"They were," Scott agreed, "but we had two refuges come in this week. Well, one of them was from Corinth and apparently left, the other," he sighed, "He was out there a long time."

"Your Series Black," Dr Oliver mused.

"He might not be," Scott said, "there are, complications." He sat back, "He calls himself Dillon, and he was a, guest, of Venjix." Another sigh, "I can't tell you everything. It was decided that what happened to Dillon had to be classified."

"Then don't," Dr Oliver replied, "I don't want you to get in trouble for me."

Scott gave him a slight grin, "The thing is, if Dillon passes the tests and becomes Series Black, are you going to initiate him?"

"Like we did with you?" Dr Oliver countered.

"Well, I guess," Scott replied.

"No," Dr Oliver replied, "although I'll want to talk to him. Black Rangers are different from Reds."

Scott nodded slightly, "I asked you to come here to ask you to hold off on that." He turned to look at Dr Oliver fully. "What happened to Dillon, not to mention the time he spent out there, has hurt him. Not to mention the fact that he has no memory of what happened to him before he escaped Venjix. Summer thinks, and frankly I agree, that Dillon will bolt if we put too much on him, too soon."

"How far back do you want us?" Dr Oliver asked.

Scott closed his eyes, "Off base," he said, "because of what happened to him, the Colonel wants Dillon to stay on base unless he's on Ranger business, so, with the exception of Doctor Kendall, we're going to restrict access for now. Summer says it won't be fair if we all go wandering around when Dillon can't, so we'll be sticking close to base until Doctor K kicks us out."

Dr Oliver chuckled, "All right, Scott," he said, "I'll talk to Zack. We'll leave Dillon be for now. Just don't forget to let me know when we can talk to him."

"I will sir," Scott replied.

"No Ranger Green yet," Dr Oliver asked after they had fallen silent for a moment.

"Not yet," Scott agreed, "Which makes me worried."

"Why?" Dr Oliver asked.

"It's stupid," Scott replied.

"Let me be the judge of that," Dr Oliver said with a hint of authority.

"I've been having these dreams," Scott began without thinking, "and I don't really remember them. One thing I remember is that I kept thinking, or feeling, that if we found Black, we'd find Green too."

"You don't think you will," Dr Oliver stated.

"So far," Scott said, "the only person Dillon has _positively_ interacted with outside Project Ranger is the guy he brought in with him. I don't know that much about him but the kid's a criminal already. He came in with one of the cartels and has been in and out of scams and confidence schemes until two months ago when he vanished. We know now he got out of the city, but we don't know how, or why. We don't know what happened to him out there and very little about what led him to Dillon."

"Maybe you should give him a chance," Dr Oliver suggested.

"I've spent all afternoon jumping hoops with my dad to get Dillon," Scott replied, "and Dillon's only crime is to have been a captive of Venjix. The kid's a career criminal with no obvious redeeming qualities. I'd win an Olympic medal for the kind of gymnastics springing _him_ from jail."

Dr Oliver just laughed, "If it comes down to it," he said finally as he calmed down, "I happen to know an Olympic medalist in gymnastics if you want some pointers."

….

Summer found Flynn in the laundry room sorting his laundry basket, "Hey," she said, boosting herself onto the counter they used to fold clothes.

"Hi," Flynn replied.

"Are you ok," Summer asked after a moment.

"I'm fine," Flynn said, "why would you think otherwise?"

Summer waved her hand a little, "Scott."

"Oh, that," Flynn said, pulling out the last of his clothes, "It's ok, Summer. I'm not going to run screaming from the Garage again."

"If you're sure," Summer said hesitantly.

"I'm sure, lass," Flynn said as he started the washer. He picked up a pair of his pants and began to check pockets. Summer slid off the counter and started on another pair silently.

As she went through her last pair, Summer found something, a square of paper. Curious, she pulled it out. It was a photograph, Flynn stood in his kilt and a dress shirt beaming happily with an arm around a girl in a wedding dress. They had matching tartans slung over their shoulders, "Flynn," Summer said, "who is this?"

Flynn took the picture from her with a sad smile, "That's my Jaycee, my wife."

"You're married," Summer replied.

"Nah, lass," Flynn said, "she died." He stared at the picture sadly and Summer stared at him, wondering how she had not known this about her teammate. The washing machine stopped filling up with a clunk and they both jumped. Summer finished checking the pants in her hand and dropped them in the washer, then Flynn closed the lid.

"What happened," Summer finally asked as they left the laundry room.

"She was hit by a drunk driver," Flynn said softly, still looking at the picture, "just walking down the road from the library."

Summer slipped her hand in Flynn's, "I'm sorry," she said.

Flynn smiled tightly, "It was two years ago now, Summer. We met in the Peace Corps and had a local voodoo priest do the ceremony. When we left the Corps, we formalized the wedding in Glasgow before settling in Boston. I became an American citizen for her."

Summer's eyebrows raised, "A mystery solved," she said, "I always wondered how you ended up in Corinth with us poor Americans."

"My dad was visiting when they grounded the planes," Flynn replied, "so we evacuated together."

Summer hesitated as they entered the kitchen, then asked, "Is that why it bothered you so much, what happened, I mean?"

Flynn stopped and turned to look down at her, a gentle smile on his lips, "Summer, it bothered me because I was straight, and I knew I was straight," he reached up and brushed some of her hair from her face. "I mourned my Jaycee for a year, just like I promised her, and then I met you and Scott. Neither of you are like my Jaycee, but I can't spend a lifetime loving a ghost. Jaycee liked to see that people were happy, and she was a matchmaker besides. If anything, I think she'd be happy at how happy I am because of you and Scott."

"But," Summer began.

Flynn kissed her gently, one hand on her shoulder, the other coming to rest on her hip. For a moment, Summer was still, then she slid her own hand up Flynn's arm to press against his back and the other echoed his in settling on Flynn's waist.

The revving of Scott's engine as he pulled into the Garage made them pull back, slowly, and with matched grins. "I won't say anything," Summer said softly, "but you should tell Scott if he doesn't already know."

Flynn nodded as Scott's door slammed. "Talked to Doctor Oliver," Scott announced as he came into the kitchen.

Summer realized she was still holding Flynn and started to drop her arms, but Flynn only turned, keeping his arm around her waist, "What did the doctor have to say for himself?" Flynn asked.

Scott regarded the two of them for a moment, then blinked, "He'll keep everyone back. I got the impression he was amused by the request, and a little proud."

"Well," Summer said, "that's good. All we have to do is worry about scaring him off ourselves."

"We wouldn't do that," Flynn objected.

"I don't know," Summer said, "I was pretty tempted a few times at the beginning, and compared to Dillon, I'm emotionally stable and completely normal."

"What's normal?" Scott asked dryly.

"Good question," Flynn replied.

"What's the word on Dillon," Summer asked.

"Tomorrow," Scott said, "apparently my dad's in a closed door meeting and can't be reached so the guards at the prison won't do anything. I told the warden that if our teammate wasn't released by ten o'clock he'd be replacing doors."

"Good for you," Summer said, and her stomach growled.

They laughed, "Now that we've heard from the peanut gallery," Scott said as they quieted, "who's up for going out to dinner?"

"I could not cook for an evening," Flynn agreed.

"Me too," Summer said, she turned her head towards the briefing room, "Are you going to need us, Doctor K?"

"No," Doctor K replied after a moment, "if I do, I will contact you."

"Thanks," Scott called.

"Where are we going?" Flynn asked.

"I thought we could go to that Italian place," Scott replied, "the one on the harbor."

"With the little tables and the candles," Summer agreed, "it sounds perfect."

"I agree," Flynn said.

Scott smiled, "Good, because I made reservations at eighteen hundred."

"An hour and a half to get ready," Summer said with a laugh, "someone's being an optimist." She slipped away from Flynn's arm.

"Where are you going?" Flynn asked.

Summer glanced over her shoulder with a smile, "Flynn, I'm about to go on a date with two good looking men, I have to get ready."

…

Scott shook his head and turned back to Flynn, "She's something, isn't she?"

"Aye," Flynn said with a fond smile. It faded soon after, "Scott," he said, "there's something I need to tell you."

"What?" Scott asked.

Flynn took something out of his pocket and handed it over, "This," he said.

Scott took the picture and stared at it, "Who is she?" He asked, and cleared his throat.

"My wife," Flynn replied.

"Your what?" Scott repeated.

"Jennifer Christine McAllister," Flynn said, "she was killed two years ago, my Jaycee."

Scott studied the woman, she appeared to be a brunette, although the veil made it hard to tell. Her smile, however, was like a beacon and the way she was looking at Flynn made it clear that she loved him. The look Flynn had was one Scott had seen a time or two, although he was used to a less intense version. "Your last secret," Scott managed finally, offering him the picture.

"My last," Flynn agreed, he put the picture in his pocket. "I didn't tell you because it hurt so much at first. She was my everything and a damned drunk took her from me." Scott reached out, wanting to comfort his friend, but uncertain as to how, Flynn smiled at him and caught his hand with a tight squeeze. "Don't worry," Flynn said, "you'll not be competing against a ghost. I promised my Jaycee I'd mourn her for a year and a day alone, but after that, I wouldn't guard my heart any more. I didn't expect to give it away so fast though."

"You didn't," Scott said. At Flynn's look, he swallowed, "You didn't 'give' it away, Flynn. You traded it, half shares for mine."

"Only half?" Flynn said, his tone lightening.

"Well, Summer gets half to," Scott allowed.

"Good thing," Flynn said, "she's got half of mine same as you."

Scott smirked, "Good, so I get the shower first."

"What, why?" Flynn demanded.

"Because I'm paying tonight," Scott replied, "and if I go first, you'll spend less time in front of the mirror."

"I meant, why are you showering, we showered this morning," Flynn replied.

"Because in an hour and twenty minutes, Summer is going to come down those stairs looking like a million dollars," Scott replied, "and she'd probably drop kick us both if we didn't at least look like half a mil."

Flynn dropped his hand and bolted for the stairs, "Shower's first come first serve, Scott," he called over his shoulder, "You know that."


	5. A Certain Point of View

_The Princess and her red sidekick were back,_ he thought with amusement. For a moment, as the door to his cell was unlocked and the guard handed him his clothes, he was tempted to bolt. He had only hung around the prison out of a strange sense of duty to the crazy kid, who had gotten him to Corinth. Now, when he had his clothes he was fairly certain he'd find his car with a little effort and he could be gone again before any of them could really react or anticipate what he was going to do.

As if the guard had read his mind, he tensed, so Dillon simply took the clothes and began to unzip his jumper. "Wait!" Summer yelped, a touch of panic in her voice.

"We're going to show you where the changing rooms are." Scott added dryly.

Dillon smirked as he pulled up his zipper, "Afraid you'll see something you might like," he asked them.

"Nope," Summer said, linking her arm with the sidekick. "I just don't want you to traumatize half the population in here."

His smirk slipped into a full grin for a moment, because he really, _really_ liked her. The sidekick looked like he'd sat on a pin cushion. "Then show me where the changing room is," he said, "or you're going to get a real show."

"This way," Summer replied, tugging lightly on the sidekick's arm. He followed, mostly because they were his ticket to an easy ride out, not because he was going to take orders from a princess like her.

Changed, he rejoined the two Rangers. "Aren't you missing an appendage or two?" He asked, straightening his collar.

"Flynn had some training to do," Scott replied, radiating dislike.

"You know," Dillon said, studying the sidekick for a long moment, "there are surgeries for that."

"For what?" Scott replied.

"To remove that pine cone," Dillon said with another of his smirks, "it must be pretty painful to have it shoved up your ass like that."

"Can you two please wait until we get out of here before you start playing 'alpha male'?" Summer asked from where she was standing at the security door.

Scott shook his head and followed her, and Dillon followed him, stopping to look at the guard at the door. "Ziggy Grover," he said, in his most menacing tone, "had better be alive when I come back for him. If he isn't, whatever it was Truman promised to do around here, I'll do. The difference being, I won't worry about any people who get in my way."

"Dillon," Summer called sharply.

"Remember," Dillon said, "I never forget a face, and if something happens to Ziggy, I'm taking it out on you." He turned away and strolled casually after the other two Rangers. When Scott gave him a long look, he frowned back at him. "What?"

 **…**

 _The things I do for Summer,_ Scott thought as he followed Summer and _Dillon_ through the park. He caught Flynn glancing at him and altered his steps to bump Flynn's shoulder, "Bored," he breathed at the same time.

"Exceptionally," Flynn replied, "why are we doing this again?"

"Because Dillon can't leave base without all three of us going with him right now," Scott said. He noticed Dillon and Summer coming a stop and followed suite, making sure that they were out of Summer's casual listening range.

"So," Flynn said, "why are we doing this again?" He stopped beside Scott, hands in his pockets. He looked a little too innocent for that statement.

Scott snorted softly, "I hope we'll get out of this soon." He was beginning to think that Flynn's developing friendships with the past Rangers was going to be a bad thing. Flynn certainly hadn't been as sarcastic before the time travel incident.

"Why?" Flynn asked, "I mean, besides the obvious." He shot a dark look at Dillon; one Scott had to force himself not to echo.

"They're generating a 'gentle rain' today over this park," Scott replied, ignoring the fact that he and Flynn were probably jealous of all the attention Summer was giving Dillon, "and you know how Summer feels about being wet."

"I don't have a clue what you're talking about," Flynn said innocently. They shared a conspiratorial grin.

"What?" Summer asked as she walked over to them. She looked at them both for a long moment, "There better not be any _thing_ in my bed tonight, Truman."

"We're just talking about the rain shower that's going to happen," Scott said as the rain began to fall.

Summer sighed, clearly willing to let the subject change, "I know," she said and brushed some damp strands out of her face, "I forgot to check the forecast."

"How's Dillon?" Scott asked, glancing over at the cyborg who was staring at some kids under an umbrella.

"He's thinking," Summer replied, "but I think he's going to say yes."

Flynn nodded slightly, "Here he comes," he said softly.

Summer turned, and they all watched as Dillon walked over to them with a slight smile on his face. "So, you'll do it?"

"I'll do it," Dillon replied, "on one condition."

"Oh, you have conditions now," Scott said lightly.

"Just one," Dillon said.

"Let's hear it," Flynn said.

"I want Ziggy Grover out of that prison," Dillon replied.

"You'll have to talk to Dr K and Colonel Truman," Summer said before Scott could. "You'll have to convince them."

"You seemed to get me out easy enough," Dillon replied.

"You weren't a cartel member and proven career criminal," Scott said, "and we wanted you for Project Ranger."

"Scott," Summer said, "back off." She tugged at her shirt, "Let's go back to the garage. Dillon can talk with Dr K about Ziggy," she glanced at the cyborg as she said it, "and we can all get out of these wet clothes before there's another rain shower."

"All right," Scott said, and walked away.

He decided to pretend he didn't hear Dillon mutter "Sidekick," under his breath. Their Ranger Black was going to have to learn a few things about the team and fast.

 **…**

Flynn watched the conversation between Dillon, Dr K and Colonel Truman with interest as he made dinner. Scott and Summer were perched at the bar and were also watching in between sampling the fruit and vegetables he'd put out to keep them from bothering him. "Scott," Truman said, "do you have anything to say about this?"

Scott looked up, surprised, "Honestly, I don't know why Dillon's so intent on getting the kid out of prison. I don't know the kid, and from what little I've seen of him I don't think that he's a candidate for Project Ranger. However, I am backing Dillon on this because he says it's important; same as I supported Summer and would support Flynn in a similar situation."

Flynn looked at him, as did Summer and Dillon, "What?" Scott asked. He stood up and walked around the bar to face Dillon, "We've asked you to become a Ranger, Dillon, and you've accepted. I can't say I know you well enough to say that I like you, but you're team now. You get the same trust and support that I give Flynn, Summer and Dr K."

"Scott, you're saying you support letting a criminal walk free," Colonel Truman said.

"As far as I've heard, Ziggy Grover doesn't have a record," Summer said.

"At least," Scott added, "no one has shown me evidence of one. All we have is that Ziggy came to Corinth with a Cartel and possibly worked for them. He's never been arrested in conjunction with what he's done for the Cartels, and even so, I know there were cases _Before_ where a person proved to have been coerced into what happened. For all we know, that's what happened to Ziggy and by bringing him to the Base we can give him a start at a better life."

"Or we could be handing the Cartels access to our most valuable equipment," Colonel Truman retorted. He glanced at Flynn, who held up the wooden spoon he was using to stir with and shook his head. If pushed, he'd do like Scott and throw his opinion in with Dillon, but as long as he could keep silent, he would have time to form his own opinion of things.

"Which is why I said I would watch him," Dillon spoke up. "I'm confined to base and can't leave without those three. Ziggy can't leave without me."

"I agree with the Rangers," Dr K said. "Although I cannot fathom a use for him, if he can prove himself to not be a criminal he may stay on base."

Colonel Truman stared at them, "Fine," he said. "But one hint that Ziggy Grover isn't on the straight and narrow and I'll throw him back in prison so fast everyone will have whiplash."

Flynn shook his head slightly and went back to cooking. Maybe Ziggy could cook; it would be nice to have someone take over that chore once in a while.

…

Ziggy rubbed his left side, wondering what had happened to Dillon. After their rather disastrous integration with general population, Dillon had been hauled off by the guards and Ziggy had been left behind. As Hector's second, Luca, stalked over, Ziggy dropped his hand. "Hey Luca," he began nervously.

"It's about time you came back," Luca said, rubbing his hands together, "I was starting to miss my little buddy."

Ziggy winced at the reminder of how Luca had taken him under his wing and protected him before Scorpion Bob had noticed him. "Luca," Ziggy began.

"Ziggy Grover," One of the guards called, "time to go."

"See you," Ziggy said, he dodged around Luca and walked for the door. He knew better than to run from predators. "Hey guys," Ziggy said, "if this is about the backed up toilet, I had nothing to do with that."

"You've got a visitor," the guard said, snapping handcuffs on him.

Ziggy winced as the guard grabbed his arm and hauled him down the corridor, "Could you maybe not hold on so tight," he asked, "I bruise easily."

The guard glared at him as they reached the interview cells and all but threw him into one. "That's enough," Dillon said, stepping out of the shadows. "Leave us alone."

"Dillon?" Ziggy said softly, and then grinned, "Dillon! You're ok; I thought they were going to toss you out of the city or something."

"Not exactly," Dillon said, "you're coming with me."

"Where are we going?" Ziggy asked.

"Ranger base," Dillon said, he looked away for a moment, "I've been asked to join them and you're coming with me. The guards should have your clothes, go get dressed."

Ziggy stared at him, but he knew better than to jump at the opportunity to get out of there. "Thanks," he yelped, grabbed the clothes a second guard was carrying and all but ran for the changing rooms before anyone could change their minds or tell him it was a dream.

As he climbed into Flynn's car, Ziggy reflected that it probably wasn't the best idea to have taunted the others. For a group so uneducated, they had surprisingly long memories and a lot of creativity in getting revenge. Dillon's elbow connected with his right side and Ziggy couldn't suppress the gasp as pain flared. He gripped his side and hunched over, _that's probably cracked,_ he thought, gasping.

"Are you ok?" Summer asked, turning from her spot in the front seat.

"My side," Ziggy said, "it's just a bruise."

Dillon pressed his hand against Ziggy's and Ziggy yelped, "I don't think so," he said.

"And we're going by the hospital," Flynn said. "Tell Scott and Dr K."

"On it," Summer said.

Ziggy rested half against Dillon, "I'm fine," he said, "you just hit a bruise, Dillon."

"We're still going to get you checked out," Flynn replied.

Ziggy straightened, "I'm _fine,"_ he said, "see, I'm sitting up. I'm fine."

"You're still going," Summer said, "Scott, it's Summer. Ziggy is hurt, we're going to go by the hospital and get him checked out, ok?"

Ziggy closed his eyes, leaning back and trying to breathe shallowly, his ribs were hurting him. Dillon leaned against him lightly, a solid warmth that seemed to ease the pain.

 **…**

Summer closed her eyes as Ziggy was brought back out to the reception area, Dillon walking beside him. "Well?" Scott demanded. Summer opened her eyes to watch as Ziggy tried to stand up, but Dillon stopped before he got too far.

"Cracked ribs," Dillon said, "numerous other bruises on his torso." He glanced down at the younger man, "Someone was using him as a punching bag."

"I fell," Ziggy retorted.

"Someone helped you fall," Dillon retorted, then looked up, "and he won't say who."

"Look, the doctors say I can go," Ziggy said, "and I really want to."

"He's got prescriptions," Dillon added, holding up two pieces of paper, "and they want him to come back if the pain gets worse."

"I'll get those filled," Scott said holding out his hand. "Dr K and Colonel Truman want Ziggy to talk to them about what happened in the morning."


	6. New Information

The minute Dillon vanished into the false dawn light, Ziggy closed his eyes. He should never have told Dillon about the propane vents. He only knew about it because one of the other runners for Scorpion Bob had committed suicide by trying to get out of the city that way after he'd failed Bob. Unable to hunch over the floor after the way Dillon had pulled him around, Ziggy sat down carefully on the stairs and took the deep breaths that would help him manage the ache in his chest. The K-screens clicked on, and Ziggy wondered what the venerable Dr K would think about him wearing the same clothes he had yesterday.

Benny had promised to get his stuff to him, but the long time shoulder striker would need time. As he leaned against the railing, wanting sleep but unable to, a loud and obnoxious alarm filled the air. Flynn, Scott and Summer, all dressed and prepared for the emergency, came flying down the stairs. Ziggy thought if he weren't so uncomfortable, it would be funny, how stunned Scott was that someone had _dared_ to touch his car. When Summer looked at him, Ziggy could only shake his head. He didn't know what question she was asking, but he knew that answer was probably no.

Once Dr K had filled the Rangers in on the monster, Ziggy pulled himself up and half stumbled towards the kitchen, "What are you doing?" Dr K asked.

"Meds," Ziggy replied. He grabbed the bottle of pain tablets and dumped one out into his hand. He held it for a moment, just looking, then he closed it in his fist. With his other hand, he got a bottle of water from the fridge and opened in. Then he carefully held the thin, disk-like pill between his fingers and snapped it. One half, he swallowed, the other he dropped back in the pill bottle as he pushed the lid on. By the time he'd put the pills back on the counter, the placebo effect had taken hold and he felt somewhat better. Turning, he spotted the door to the Ranger Room open and bounced in there, head high, "Can we watch the fight in here?" He asked, spinning around to look at everything.

"It is audio only," Dr K replied and patched in the audio. "I need to focus."

Ziggy nodded and listened, pacing to keep himself from doing something he shouldn't. As he made a third circuit of the room, he forced himself to admit that Dillon was not going to show up. He glanced at the screens as the low energy alert sounded, then turned away. His eyes fell on the plugs and hook ups for the K screens.

He remembered Dillon, obsessively playing the 'human origins' broadcast. Scott's car had a radio. The hook ups had a radio function. Something stirred under his racing thoughts, and he spoke up to suppress it, "Doc, can you tap me into the feed for this radio transmission?"

"Don't ever call me Doc," Dr K replied.

 _Way to prioritize,_ he thought, "Just tell me how to do it," he snapped, "I want Dillon to hear it." _I just hope I read him right._

Dr K sighed, "You need to exchange the input cords for the output cords, except for the right most one."

"Right," Ziggy said, and started pulling cords as he listened to the Rangers.

He slid the last cord home just as Scott shouted, "Calling for back up, I repeat, calling for back up."

He stilled, slowly pulling his hand away from the wall, staring at the gray wall to keep from going crazy. A voice he knew all too well filled the speakers, "I hate Grinders."

Ziggy spun to the other monitor, where the Series Black energy levels appeared on the screen. He smiled, crisis averted. The rumblings in his subconscious settled, and Ziggy could only hope things would go better from here.

"You guys handle big ugly," Dillon said, "I'll keep the Grinders busy."

"But Dillon," Summer protested.

"There must be hundreds of them," Flynn chimed in.

"I know," Dillon said calmly, "Venjix should have sent more."

 _Are you nuts?_ Ziggy thought, staring at the screen as if it could suddenly, miraculously, show him the battle.

"While you are waiting," Dr K announced, "you could rewire my controls."

"What?" Ziggy said, then remembered, "oh, right," he hurried over and set to work.

He finished and resumed pacing until Scott's triumphant words echoed through the Ranger Room, "The enemy is down," Ziggy closed his eyes, "down and out."

"Yes," he shouted, and moved to fake a high five with Dr K's screen.

"Please stop that," Dr K said.

Before Ziggy could launch into a reason for _why_ Dr K should be celebrating, Summer's concerned voice filled the room, "Dillon, are you all right?"

"Ranger Series Black," Scott added, "give me a status report."

Ziggy held his breath, "I'll be fine," Dillon announced.

"No, I mean, give me a status report on my _car,_ " Scott snapped.

 _His car?_ Ziggy thought wildly. "Ranger Series Black, Out."

Scott's shouts of outrage were music to Ziggy's ears. He walked out of the Ranger Room and started to go through the kitchen, finding the makings of breakfast easily. By the time the Rangers came back, he was ready to serve up pancakes and bacon. "Dillon," Scott said, pinning Ranger Black to his car, "if you ever take my car again," he began.

"Get my car back," Dillon replied, "and I won't have to borrow yours."

"Tomorrow," Scott said, stepping back, "you'll get your car back tomorrow."

"Why not now?" Dillon asked.

"They're putting the converter on her," Flynn said, "no gas powered vehicles allowed."

"What?" Dillon demanded.

"They're putting an energy convertor on your car," Flynn said, "so that you don't have to worry about gas. It not only stops polluting, it can actually lessen your environmental impact." He pointed a wrench at Dillon, "My dad's doing the work, so it'll be fine. He's been a mechanic for a long time."

Ziggy rattled a few plates as he pulled them out of a cupboard, "Whose hungry?" He asked, stepping out of the kitchen. Everyone turned to stare at him and he shrugged, "I made breakfast."

 **xxXXxx**

Scott slid out of his car slowly, struggling to hide the sudden nervousness he felt at the sight of Dr O pacing by one of the picnic tables in the park. He took a deep breath, shut the door to his car and headed over. "Hi, Doctor Oliver," he said, "what's going on?"

"Did you know?" Dr O demanded, "Is that why you said to keep away?"

"What are you talking about?" Scott asked.

Dr O pivoted and grabbed something from the briefcase on the picnic table and shoved it at Scott, it was two things, a picture of Dillon torn from a newspaper and a photo. Scott stared, because the photo featured a younger Dillon. Not more than a couple of years younger, but still, Scott looked between the two pictures and could see the differences. Young Dillon was softer, but smiling, his arm around a woman who barely reached his shoulder but had the same hair. Both photos, however, had the scar above his eye, although it looked a little redder in the older picture.

Scott looked up, "You know Dillon?"

" _Dillon?"_ Dr O repeated, he shook his head, "That's James Johannason."

"Kimberly's son," Scott said, looking back down, "Dillon has amnesia, he doesn't remember anything from Before." He frowned as he looked at Dr O, "Dillon knows he can request a DNA test to see if he has family in Corinth. To the best of my knowledge he hasn't. I asked you to stay back because Dillon's a flight risk. It's mostly Summer's doing, but we're trying to give Dillon reasons to stay. I don't know if this," he held up the photo, "will make him stay or send him running."

Dr O nodded and took something, a disk, from his briefcase, "Give him this, then. Tell him it's from someone who recognized him or something." Scott exchanged the pictures for the disk. "It's James's favorite CD, well, a copy anyway."

"I'll give it to him," Scott replied, "but what about Kim, does she know?"

"She does," Dr O replied, "but she's letting me handle this for right now."

"Ok," Scott said. His morpher went off, "Yeah Doctor K?" He asked, flipping the phone open.

"We have a security breach in Sector 5-1." Dr K replied.

"I'll meet the team there," Scott replied. He nodded to Dr O as he closed his phone, "I'll keep you posted, Doctor O."

…

After the battle Scott watched Dillon for a moment, "Dillon," he said finally and held up the CD. "I know that Dr K offered to run a DNA test for you to see if you had family in Corinth." Dillon turned to watch him, "I don't presume to ask how that went." He walked over, "But someone saw your picture in the paper and thought he recognized you." Dillon stared at him, "He didn't want to be too forward by charging in here, so he asked me to give you this. If you are who he thinks you are, then this is your favorite CD. If not," Scott shrugged, "then we'll have some interesting music to listen to later."

"You believe this guy?" Dillon demanded, taking the CD.

"I trust him," Scott replied, "and he had a picture of someone who looked like a younger you."

Dillon studied the CD for a moment, "I'll listen to it later." He turned away, heading back across the garage, "I have training with Doctor K."

"We have Ranger Green interviews," Summer added, linking her arm with Scott's and smiled up at him, "Ziggy was calling candidates, remember?"

"Of course," Scott said, as Flynn stepped into the space on the third side of their huddle. He sighed, "So, what do you think these interviews are going to be like?"

"I have no clue," Summer replied, sliding her other arm through Flynn's easily. "I do know that I want to stop and get something to eat on the way."

Scott caught Flynn's hand, holding it lightly as he looked from Summer to Flynn and back again. "Something tells me that this is going to be a long day." He sighed.

Summer tugged on his arm, drawing his attention back to her and she kissed him on the lips gently, "Don't be such a baby, Scott. It's Ziggy, if anything, it'll be entertaining."

Flynn squeezed his hand, "I think we should stop for breakfast too. No one's going to know if we're late."

"I will," Dr K said. "You should leave now."

"I'm driving," Flynn said, he released Scott's hand and slid his arm from Summer's arm too, "if we actually find the Series Green operator you both know Scott isn't driving him back."

"Do you have to rub that in?" Scott asked as he and Summer followed Flynn to his truck. "It was just one time."

"Scott," Summer said, "You stopped the car, he stumbled out and threw up all over the place."

"Actually," Dr K said, "that happened twice. The second one, a woman, made it to the bathroom first."

"I'm not a bad driver," Scott protested.

"You aren't," Flynn said opening his door, "just a wee bit more adventurous that most people find comfortable."

Scott opened Summer's door for her, "I hate to say it," she said and boosted herself in, "but when he's right, he's right."

"This is totally unfair," Scott muttered climbing in the back, "why is everyone ganging up on me today?"

"Oh, didn't you get the message?" Summer asked.

"I got the email," Flynn chimed in as he started the truck.

"I know I marked the calendar to," Summer said, fastening her seatbelt.

"Guys," Scott said, "can we at least start driving?" He fastened his seatbelt, knowing Flynn wouldn't go anywhere if he didn't.

"Today," Summer said as Flynn pulled out of the Garage, "is Gang Up On Scott Day."

"It'll be Pick On Summer Day next week." Flynn added.

Scott sighed, but he couldn't keep the grin off his face. They might be crazy, but he loved them.


	7. Enter Ranger Green

Dillon stared at the CD that Scott had given him. According to Scott, it was the favorite CD of a person who looked like him. He flipped the cover open and stared at the disk inside, wondering if his life could be that simple. He looked up at the CD player tucked behind Flynn's smoothie bar and sighed. Then he glanced at the K-screens, but Dr K hadn't said anything since he'd finished his training. Finally, he pulled the disk from its case and ducked under the bar to reach the CD player. He slipped the CD in and pressed play.

" _Hello James,"_ a warm, amused voice said, _"It's Mom. I just wanted to wish you a happy tenth birthday."_

" _Hi Jamie,"_ a little girl said and giggled, _"It's Becca, happy birthday! Come home soon so we can have cake!"_

" _Hi Jamie, it's Emma; happy birthday. I hope you and Daddy are enjoying your trip."_ The last voice was a girl who sounded even younger, and lisped a little.

A song began, not the rock that he was expecting, but a smoother sound. He closed his eyes and let the music play over him. He pressed his palms against the counter, trying to control the emotions that filled him.

"Ranger Series Black," Dr K announced, "I believe you would like to know that Ziggy is returning to the Garage. They have located a candidate for the Series Green."

Dillon shut off the music and put it back in the case, "Thanks Doc," he said. He walked back around the bar and into the kitchen and began making a sandwich. As he reached for the bread, he found his hand shaking. He stared at it for a long moment before he clenched his hand into a fist and slammed it down. He had better emotional control than that!

"Hey Dillon," Ziggy said, popping into the kitchen, "I guess you heard I found the perfect green ranger?"

"Doc K may have mentioned something," Dillon said, pulling the bread out of the bread box. "Good job."

"Hey, thanks," Ziggy said happily.

Dillon watched Ziggy head into the Ranger Room, then turned back to his sandwich. "Hey Dillon," Ziggy said as he came back, "did you ever listen to that CD that Scott gave you?"

Dillon dropped the knife back into the mayonnaise jar, "Why?" He asked.

"Just wondering what was on it?" Ziggy replied.

"No," Dillon said, "I haven't."

"When you do," Ziggy said, "you shouldn't listen to it alone, ok?" Dillon looked at Ziggy and was surprised to see how sincere Ziggy actually was. Ziggy pressed his hand on Dillon's arm. "Memories can be a scary thing even when you remember them without trying. If that CD used to belong to you, whatever memories it will bring back, you shouldn't face them alone."

"Ziggy, don't you have a morpher to deliver?" Dr K said suddenly.

"Yes Doc, sorry Doc," Ziggy replied with a wink to Dillon.

"Don't call me Doc," Dr K snapped.

Ziggy waved his hand at the K-screens as he walked over to his scooter, "You should come meet her," Ziggy said, "I think you'll like Tenaya."

"I'll wait," Dillon replied.

"Suit yourself," Ziggy replied, snapping his helmet. Dillon watched him leave, then turned back to his sandwich. Suddenly, he wasn't hungry. Having already gotten the lecture on wasting food, Dillon got a plate from the cabinet, dumped the newly made sandwich on it and tossed it into the refrigerator. If he didn't eat it, Scott or Flynn would have a midnight snack.

Dillon sat down again at the bar and but his head down. "Ranger Series Black, we have a problem," Dr K announced.

"What?" Dillon demanded.

"Ziggy's Ranger Candidate is an attack bot," Dr K replied.

"Do you know where he is?" Dillon demanded knocking the stool over as he surged to his feet.

"I'm still in contact with him," Dr K replied.

Dillon turned to the closest terminal, "Patch me," he ordered. "Ziggy, keep that attack bot busy, buy yourself some time, I'm on my way."

"How will you find me?" Ziggy asked.

"I'll track you through the morpher," Dillon said and hurried across the Garage, he barely heard Ziggy's final admonition.

"Yeah, well, hurry."

Dillon slammed his way out of the Garage and down the road as fast as he could. "Where am I going, Doc?" He asked after triggering his morpher.

"Ziggy is on the move, heading west from the auditorium." Dr K replied. The GPS Flynn had installed into Dillon's dash lit up with two blinking lights, one was black and one was green.

Dillon glanced at the GPS for a moment before he sped up even more. It was moments after Ziggy's dot stopped moving at a race track that he arrived. "Get in," he told Ziggy. He couldn't stop the flash of amusement as Ziggy tried to buckle his belt. The passenger side belt hadn't worked properly since the car's former owner had died.

He didn't have a lot time to think about what he could remember before he was saving Ziggy from the Attack Bot. "You've got upgrades," she said.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Dillon asked and growled as his words triggered her identification protocols. "Save it," he snapped finally.

He backed off and slid the engine cell home. Before he could say the trigger words, he was morphed. He couldn't help the smile at that, so much for Dr K's vocal activation protection. Before he could voice that, he was again fighting the attack bot. Suddenly, his power levels dropped and when he hit the wall, he could feel it. He closed his eyes, wondering what had happened to him. He picked himself up enough to see the bot standing over Ziggy with the morpher in her hands. "Now I will bond with your Series Green and destroy the Power Rangers from within."

"No," Dillon whispered, trying to step forward.

"I will become the final stage of techno awareness."

Dillon closed his eyes, reaching for a power that was just out of his grasp.

"You talk too much."

Dillon snapped his eyes open and stared as Ziggy and the Bot fought over the morpher until, suddenly, Ziggy activated the green morpher.

"I don't want to be a Power Ranger!" Ziggy cried as Dillon's Power surged, filling him with the strength that had vanished moments before. As Dillon fired to drive away the Bot, he knew that nothing would ever be the same.

xxXXxx

Dillon didn't bother to knock, shoving the door to Summer's room open with all the finesse of a hurricane, "Are you insane?" He snarled.

"What?" Scott asked, pausing with a couch cushion in his hand.

"You're just going to dump all over Ziggy like that and then have a movie night?" Dillon said.

"What are you talking about?" Flynn asked, his arms full of pillows and blankets.

"Do you know what Ziggy's first words were after he morphed?" Dillon asked, "He said, _'I don't want to be a Power Ranger.'_ "

"But he is," Summer said, "he put the morpher on."

"Ziggy didn't have a choice," Dillon replied. "He wasn't prepared, he didn't chose this and all you can say is 'we don't want you'."

"What are we supposed to say?" Scott asked, "It's not like we can give the morpher to someone else."

"How about, we'll train you," Dillon said, "or maybe we'll make this work? Do you think I wanted Ziggy to be a Ranger? He's just a kid. He's _seventeen._ I didn't save him from being killed in prison to see him be killed by Venjix."

"I don't know what you expect from me," Scott said, looking to Flynn and Summer for back up.

"Ziggy isn't anyone's first choice," Dillon snapped, "you have all made that perfectly clear. However, Ziggy is the Ranger we have. You need to accept that instead of complaining about it. Maybe he isn't the person you wanted, but he has something this team needs."

"What, shadow puppets?" Scott replied, and winced, because that was not what he needed to say right now.

Dillon roared wordlessly and moved, before Scott could even think about reacting, Dillon had yanked the cushion away and grabbed his shirt, "You don't like Ziggy," he said quietly, "and you don't like me. I get that. You three," he jerked to look at Flynn and Summer, both of whom were frozen in shock, "have had an entire year to get to know one another and build a foundation of trust. I get that. What I don't get is why you aren't giving Ziggy the chance you gave me. Ziggy is a good kid, a little scatterbrained, but in his soul, he's nothing but the best of all of us." He released Scott and headed back across the room, "And before you bleat about how untrained Ziggy is, I want you to think about this. Ziggy and that Tenaya bot went hand to hand for five minutes before Ziggy morphed, and until he had that Power surge to distract him, he was _holding his own._ That's why you should think before you condemn Ziggy for being weak." He slammed the door behind him.

Scott coughed and rubbed his chest, "Scott, are you ok?" Flynn asked.

"Yeah," Scott said, he tugged his shirt straight. "I'm fine."

Summer stepped in close, "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," Scott said, smiling down at her.

"If you're fine, do you want to finish with the couch, man," Flynn said, "clearly we need to talk."

Scott sighed, but smiled, "Right," he stepped away from Summer and finished pulling the cushions from the couch. He pulled the bed out and Flynn dumped his armload onto it. "So," Scott said as they passed around pillows and settled on the bed, "Ziggy."

"What do we know about him?" Summer asked.

"Just what's happened to him since he came to Corinth," Scott replied. "I checked with my dad, remember? Before he showed up with the cartel, Ziggy has no record. According to Ziggy himself, he worked for the Cartels before he got here, and people seem to know him."

"Is he really seventeen?" Flynn asked, "I thought he was older."

"Eighteen."

The trio spun to find Ziggy standing in the door, "I'm eighteen," Ziggy said uneasily. "Dillon miscalculated the date."

"Can we help you?" Summer asked.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry," Ziggy replied. "I'm not the Ranger you wanted."

"You're the Ranger we have," Scott replied firmly, the words coming unconsciously. "Maybe we were a little surprised by it, but what we said, what I said, was wrong. You're team now."

"You're one of us," Flynn added. "The rest of it will fall as it will."

Summer slid off the bed and walked over to Ziggy, "Like they said, you're team, Ziggy."

"It's just date night?" Ziggy asked, tilting his head a little.

"I guess you could say that," Summer said with a laugh. "Tomorrow, though, tomorrow, you and I are going to go shopping. You have a room to decorate and clothes to buy." She kissed his cheek and stepped back.

"Summer," Ziggy said, shooting nervous glances at Scott and Flynn, "I like you and all, but please, don't kiss me. Save that for your boyfriends."

Summer laughed, "Good night Ziggy."

"Good night," Ziggy replied.

Summer shut the door and returned to the bed, "So," she said looking from Scott to Flynn, "are you two my boyfriends?"

 _Uh oh,_ Scott thought, flicking a glance at Flynn. "I guess you could say that," he said carefully. "I always thought partners was a good term."

"I just thought of us as family," Flynn said, leaning back slightly.

"Good," Summer said, and threw herself into the narrow space between them, "I agree."

 **xxXXxx**

Dr K left the control room through the back stairs to the bunker underneath that served as her home. On the far side of the Zord Hanger was an actual house Truman had built for her, but even after learning the truth about her 'skin allergy', Dr K found a certain comfort in the windowless bunker. There were colors, which differed from Alphabet Soup, and the bed was sinfully large to her but the best part of it was the large wicker bowl chair that Dr Kendall had given her. She settled there and called up the recordings from the race track security. There hadn't been time earlier to see what had happened, but now, she would learn what led Ziggy to being Ranger Series Green. It promised to be an interesting tape if Dillon's rather audible rant was to be believed.


	8. The Fridge Cannon

Once upon a time, Summer was positive, she had been able to relax in her room and make jewelry without being disturbed by her teammates. However, ever since Dillon and Ziggy had joined the team, there wasn't a day, sometimes even an hour, that went by without some form of alpha male posturing between Dillon and Scott. It usually took the form of their cars, once Dillon had gotten his back from the mechanics. Other times, it was music, or sparring, and there was that rather memorable food fight the night Ziggy had cooked them spaghetti. Not that Summer was totally innocent in that mess, but the origins of that particular piece of posturing had been, yet again, Dillon and Scott butting heads.

Summer was jolted out of her thoughts by the roar of an engine and cursed as her surprise caused the bead she was gluing down to be knocked free. Summer grabbed a second bead with her tweezers and set about inserting it. She'd just gotten it set and had moved back when a second engine joined the first with a roar of sound. Summer yanked the plug of the hot glue gun free of the wall and carefully got to her feet. Her morpher chimed, "Yes, Doctor K?" She asked through gritted teeth.

"Ranger Series Yellow," Dr K said, "would you inform Series Black that he is wanted in the Ranger Room. I have been trying to page him and he will not respond."

"Gladly," Summer said as another blast of engine noise filled the air. She snapped her morpher closed and stormed out of her room. "Hey guys!" She yelled, and felt gratified when Flynn jumped. The Alpha Males, however, were still revving their engines. "Guys!" She tried again; this time they heard her calling them. "You want to try to make a bit more noise." She said waspishly and tugged on her ear, "I've still got some hearing in one ear."

"Just trying to make a point," Scott replied sheepishly. It did sooth her a little that Scott realized just how angry she was.

"Keep trying," Dillon said smugly.

"Yes, well, if you weren't beating your chests so loudly, you might have heard Doctor K trying to page Dillon on the comm," Summer snapped, because she was all for giving Dillon a chance to adjust, but there was a limit to her ability to take his attitude.

"Ranger Series Black," Dr K said, "please report to the Ranger Room."

Summer rolled her eyes a little at Dillon's final display of defiance just as her stomach roiled a little. _Food,_ she thought and headed for the kitchen. "Ah, Summer," Flynn said as he pulled off his welding helmet, "How are you?"

"I'd be _better,"_ Summer said, discreetly pitching her voice for Scott to hear, "if people would remember how thin the walls are around here." She grabbed the door to the fridge and hissed, releasing it just as fast.

"Are you ok?" Flynn asked, coming to hover at her shoulder.

"I was using my hot glue gun," Summer said, regarding the burn on the edge of her palm, "it's just a burn. It'll heal up and be gone before dinner."

"If you say so," Flynn said, "did you want something?"

"Food," Summer replied, "I'm feeling a bit hungry."

"Now that you mention it," Scott said as he wandered in, followed by Ziggy. "Is there any of that chicken casserole left?"

"Should be," Flynn said, "Summer?"

"Sounds good," Summer replied.

"Ziggy?" Flynn added.

Ziggy grinned, "Sure, and thanks."

As Summer moved out of Flynn's way and claimed a seat on one of the stools, she reflected that their determination to accept Ziggy had gone a long way to getting the kid to open up. She didn't think he trusted them all the way, but he seemed easier with them than he had in the beginning. Of course, Flynn would probably be more consistently pleasant if Ziggy would stop stealing his fruit. "So," Summer said, "what are we doing this afternoon, anyways?"

"Um," Ziggy said hesitantly as he sat down beside her, "I was, I was kind of hoping to go out."

"Ziggy and I have synch training," Scott said, "and Flynn has that project of his."

"And Doc is probably going to keep Dillon in there for a while," Flynn said.

They all winced at a loud thud, as if someone had hit the door to the Ranger Room. "It might be best if we kept close until dinner," Scott said. "Doctor K sounded particularly irritated."

"Yeah," Summer said, "if you want, I'll go with you after dinner." She grinned at Ziggy, "if Flynn will loan us the truck."

"What, sure," Flynn smiled at her, "I don't mind."

"Are you sure?" Ziggy asked anxiously, "I don't want to be a bother."

"You won't be," Summer assured him. "I need to go to the craft store anyways."

"That- that was where I wanted to go," Ziggy admitted.

"Cool," Summer said. Flynn passed out plates of reheated casserole and they feel to with a will.

After lunch, Summer challenged Scott and Ziggy to a game of pool while Flynn started working on Dillon's car. Of course, Summer and Scott both knew that she would win. Before her morpher, Summer had been a good pool player, after she'd gotten the morpher and mastered its unique energy, she had been unbeatable. It wasn't something Summer could explain, but in learning how to fire the precise amount of energy needed in a Chi Energy Burst, she had gained an instinct for pool that made her game unbeatable; especially when Ziggy naively let her break.

"What are you," Ziggy demanded as she regarded the result of her break, "psychic or something."

Summer shrugged, "Or something."

The Ranger Room door slid open giving Summer warning before Dillon stormed past, followed by a faint hint of ozone. "Ranger Series Black," Dr K announced, "you still owe me three minutes of shield sequencing training."

Summer glanced over at Scott, catching his surprised look. "Bill me," Dillon snapped before opening the door to the fridge. _Uh oh,_ Summer thought even as Scott's lips twitched into a smirk. They clearly heard the sound of Dr K's secret weapon arming as a look of confused panic crossed Ziggy's face. "You've got to be kidding," Dillon said.

 _Actually, he isn't,_ Summer thought joining Scott and Ziggy in positioning herself out of the line of fire, but able to watch the show, _and for once, he isn't targeting me._

"Shall we begin?" Dr K asked and fired the cannon.

Dillon yelled in shock as he went flying across the room, hit the tire that they had placed to cushion the landing and collapsed to the floor. Summer glanced at her teammates. Ziggy looked like he could barely think from shock, while Scott looked almost wistful. Clearly, he would have loved to have the past few minutes on film, just to replay repeatedly. For a moment, Summer wondered what kind of captions such a scene would have before the alert sounded.

Thankfully, Dr K shut the alert off as they reached the screens and began to pull up information on the cause. "It's a perimeter breach through an air intake," Scott announced moments before Summer had come to the same conclusion. He sounded puzzled, an emotion Summer could second.

"Must be a pretty small attack force," Flynn said, "nothing big is getting through there."

Colonel Truman appeared on the screen, "My forces are taking fire at the Sector Nine power grid. We can't hold them off."

"If Venjix takes out that grid," Dr K said, "it could disrupt the entire southern hemisphere of the city's shield."

"We're on it," Scott said, heading for his car.

Summer didn't hesitate, slamming her helmet on as she threw her leg over the bike and buckling it one handed as she started the engine. They hadn't had a serious breach since the Tenaya attack bot had infiltrated during the Series Green interviews, so it was time and past time to find out how their dynamics had changed in battle.

Although she noticed Scott and Dillon weren't there, Summer knew it was too dangerous to wait. She dropped her helmet by her bike as she raced to help the security forces, hearing Flynn and Ziggy's footsteps right behind her. Over the battle, she heard Tenaya's voice clearly, "Ah, Rangers." A slight shiver down her spine made Summer blink before blocking her first Grinder; this was not going to be an easy fight. Even after Scott and Dillon showed up, Summer kept part of her attention on Ziggy and was pleased to note that, even if he wasn't as smooth a fighter as Scott, Dillon or even Flynn, he was holding his own. It made her feel a bit better about his precipitous arrival on the team.

As if the arrival of their missing members had been a signal, Flynn morphed, and Summer followed his excellent example. Scott's voice joined them and the familiar rush of power and invincibility flooded through her as she called of the Zip Charger.

Just as the last of the Power rush faded, and Summer felt the odd melding of their minds; a fourth power linked in. From the sharp, green sight-feel, it was Ziggy. Unlike Scott's focused worry or Flynn's joyous battle-mind, Ziggy was unfocused. Although he was thinking about the fight, it was so different from anything Summer had sensed. It was almost as if there were two sets of thoughts in Ziggy's mind. One was focused and calm, but distant, she couldn't 'hear' or sense anything beyond the presence of emotions. The second was chaotic and loud, tinged with panic, worry and even a little anger.

The rap of a Grinder's sword against her helmet, and Dillon's nearly unemotional and analytical mind entering what Kira had termed the 'morph-meld' yanked Summer back to the battle. Thankfully, her brief moment of woolgathering had gone unnoticed as Flynn and Scott drew closer to her. A glance at the HUD told Summer that Dillon had squared off with Tenaya while Ziggy was holding off some Grinders who appeared to have been trying to ambush the distracted Dillon.

"Let's blast that bot," Scott said as the three of them met up.

"Right," Flynn and Summer replied.

The boys fitted the saber to the cannon and they headed for Dillon, "Dillon," Summer called at the last minute, "get down."

Dillon ducked as Summer slammed the Zip Charger in place and they fired. Surprisingly, Tenaya held off the blast for a brief moment before the kinetic energy built up by the meeting of her robotic makeup with the Road Blaster's assault sent her flying. She stared at them for a long moment as she picked herself up, and then called the retreat. Summer banished the Zip Charger back into the biofield to focus on Dillon, "Are you all right?" She asked him.

"Yeah," Dillon replied, "Ziggy," he said, glancing over to where Ranger Green was shadowboxing imaginary villains, "the Grinders are gone."

Summer thought Ziggy looked almost sheepish as he walked over to join them. "Let's get back to the Garage," Scott said.

Dillon pointed at him, "I'm not riding with you."

"You can ride with me," Flynn said, "and I promise, I'll put your tires back on."

Dillon's finger swung to jab Flynn's chest, "Do that, then keep your hands _off_ the Fury."

"Sure, fine," Flynn powered down, "whatever." As Summer powered down, she reflected that the glint in Flynn's eye could only mean that he'd done what he'd done deliberately. It was another sign of acceptance by her boys and she had to duck her head a little to hide her smile.

Back at the Garage, they gathered in the Ranger Room for debriefing. Only the 'debriefing' quickly became a power struggle between Dr K and Dillon. "It's not the suit I have a problem with," Dillon snapped finally, "it's you."

Summer winced as Scott and Flynn stepped forward, "Dillon," Scott said, "you're out of line."

"Am I?" Dillon asked, and then he crossed the line he'd been toeing. "Have you ever met or seen this Dr K? Anybody?" He gestured, "It could be anyone, broadcasting from anywhere."

Summer flinched as Dr K spoke, "Ranger Black, I assure you, no one wants to destroy the Venjix Virus more than me."

"Then," Dillon replied, "try testing the invincibility shield yourself."

Scott waited until the door slid shut behind Dillon before he exploded, "Who does he think he is?"

"Scott," Summer said, very aware that Ziggy was still in the room.

Flynn touched her arm, "Let him," he breathed in her ear. "Ziggy needs to learn."

"I mean, seriously," Scott continued, "does he think that my dad, and the Mayor would trust just anyone?"

"That's enough, Ranger Series Red," Dr K said, "While I appreciate your desire to defend me, Dillon must come to his own conclusions."

Scott bit his lip and turned, "Flynn, put Dillon's car back together. Ziggy, go with him."

Flynn nodded and grabbed Ziggy's arm, "Let's go."

"What?" Ziggy asked, even as he allowed himself to be pulled from the room.

"Scott," Summer said, "It's ok."

"I think we need to start pushing back," Scott said. "I know we don't want Dillon to run, but he's got to have some boundaries."

Summer hesitated, "Scott, you already know that Flynn and I will follow you anywhere you want but that's because we know you and trust you. We've had a year to hash out our differences and accept each other. Furthermore, we all volunteered for this and had a guess at what we were getting into. Dillon did it because he didn't really have a different choice. He doesn't think of this the same way we do." She caught his hand gently, "Besides, we always knew that activating Series Black and Green would change things. We're a threesome, but we can't be just a trio any more. The _team_ has to change. What exists between Flynn, you and me, that will change, but in a good way. We're becoming stronger. The thing is, the trio isn't the team now. We have to let the team change." She tugged his hand to make him fully look into her eyes, "Frankly, I'm all for letting the team change, I don't _want_ any more people trying to take over my couch."

A brief smile flickered over Scott's face and Summer kissed him lightly, "Now, let's go out there and not snap someone's head off, ok?"

"Ok," Scott said, and kissed her, gently cupping her cheek with his free hand. "I'll think about what you said."

"Rangers," Dr K snapped, "would you not do this in the Ranger Room."

They both laughed, "Sorry Doc K," Scott said. Then he assumed a stern look, "Let's go harass Flynn."

"We really shouldn't," Summer said as they headed for the door.

"Yes," Scott said as the doors opened, "but this is my team, and he will take orders, just like everybody else."

Summer rolled her eyes as they headed for the kitchen, "Just, give Dillon a little time ok? We were all freaked out by Doctor K at first."

Scott pulled out two water guns from the fridge and passed one to Summer. Under the cover of Flynn's blender, they split up and circled around the wall dividing the bar from the kitchen. Summer watched Scott count down from five and they leapt out with Native American style war whoops, shooting Flynn with the freezing water.

Flynn's girlish shriek was a perfect counterpoint to their mocking laughter.


	9. Interlude: Loyalty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This interlude is cross-linked to Handshake. It also marks the point in time in which things seriously go AU in this story.

Once the Ranger had left to deal with the attack on the City, Dr K sat still in front of her screens for a long moment. She was tempted to page Dr Kendall, but she knew her friend would be in a shelter somewhere, waiting for the fight to be over. Instead, she commanded one of her automatic defenses to incinerate the robotic hand, wishing that she could have studied the device for personal reasons. Then, with half a mind on the battle, she thought of the Time Travelers and what had been said to her by them. Especially Conner and his rather blunt warning that one day, she would have to show herself to the Rangers or lose them.

She had never worried about losing Ranger Red. Scott had the mindset that when his loyalty was given, it was exceptionally hard to lose and Scott had dedicated himself to her personally as well as Project Ranger. He'd proven himself to her, both his loyalty and dedication.

Ranger Blue was a hero at heart, and Dr K almost thought that he would consider her a damsel in distress. There was no doubt that once he got over the emotional shock, Flynn would be a staunch and loyal supporter.

Ranger Yellow would, no doubt, be delighted to have another female in the Garage, at least, until their biological imperatives inspired them to sabotage each other in a quest for the males' attention. Dr K had to mentally steel herself to ignore her own biology to ensure that their working relationship remained unchanged.

Ranger Green would be off balanced, certainly. Dr K thought he might even find himself more clumsy and uncertain until he adjusted to her. Also, she still couldn't be sure of his loyalty. He seemed to be loyal only to Ranger Black and even that loyalty seemed to be more 'for the moment' than long lasting.

Ranger Black was the wild card. Dr K was positive that he, of all the Rangers, had guessed her true gender, if only because he seemed psychologically incapable of trusting anyone's given word. Still, she hoped he would, at the least, stay with the Project. She did not have the time to develop and test a new morpher if he decided to take advantage of the upgrades to his car. She snorted reflexively, because who named their _car?_

She was pulled out of her musings by the Rangers' return. Quickly, she made up her mind, unsealed the control room and fled into the corridor, even as her mobile communications system picked up Ranger Black's words, "I owe you an apology."

"No," Dr K replied, "I owe all of you something." Utilizing the auxiliary controls in the corridor, she killed the screens and opened the door to the Ranger Room, also checking that every thing was being properly recorded. As the Rangers filed into the Ranger Room, Dr K remembered the day that Jinx had fitted the door with fog machines, 'for the day you emerge' he'd told her. With a tear sliding down her cheek, Dr K commanded the door open and the fog machines to come on, just as Jinx had planned.

"Doctor K," Scott said carefully.

Dr K slipped out of the corridor, "Hello Rangers," she said, and rested her hands on her hips, "I'm Doctor K." Thinking of Jinx, as the Rangers exchanged glances, she knew exactly what to say, "What?" Mentally she frowned and moved the mike, so that they could hear her true voice. "You thought I'd be taller?"

As the Rangers began to exchange glances, Dr K knew that this was only the beginning.


	10. Reallignment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did promise that after Handshake, things would become wildly AU, and thus we begin. While certain aspects of RPM will be present in Get in Gear, most of it will be passing reference or random plot. Also, I just wanted to add for the musically inclined: Year of the Trio's theme was At The Beginning from the Anastasia soundtrack and Get in Gear's theme is The Call from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe soundtrack (Disney version).

Summer shut the door to her room softly and stood with one hand on the doorknob, the other on the door jam, the perfect height for her to rest her forehead against it. _Doctor K is a girl._ The thought was no less jarring for coming several hours after the revelation that their impersonal mentor was a girl younger than any of the Rangers she had selected, trained and assisted. A yell from the Garage brought her back to herself and she turned. She had just enough time to see her mother's video message and change before Flynn and Scott showed up for movie night and a talk.

She started up the video on her computer and hurried to change as her mother's image appeared on the screen. "Hello Summer, dear," Claire Landsdown said, "You haven't called home lately so I thought I would try to talk to you."

Summer suppressed a surge of guilt as she straightened the straps on her sleep tank.

"I just wanted to remind you that it's been almost a year since we made the promise." Claire continued. "I know that you have been busy, living your life and being a-a _power ranger_ and all."

Summer smirked as she tied the drawstring on her sleep pants, Claire Landsdown couldn't hide her real feelings for all the money in the world. It was clear in the way she spoke of her daughter's chosen profession.

"Summer, honey, your father and I want your wedding to be the most beautiful in Corinth, but we can't decide anything until you call us." Claire continued, effectively killing any feelings of good will Summer had towards her mother. "Don't leave it too late," Claire said, "or your father and I will do the decorating."

Summer closed her eyes as the end message noise sounded. She had thought if she waited, and stopped talking to her parents they'd forget about the wedding. She dropped her head into her hands; clearly, they were still planning to marry her off to that stupid poodle, Chazz Winchester the Fourth. A remembered voice floated into her mind, " _If you really choose not to go through with that deal, you have grounds. Colonel Truman said he would honor the Eltarean Accords if he had to, so if nothing else you can hold them off with the knowledge that if they pressure you into marriage during the war they could be arrested for war crimes."_ Kira had told her that. She didn't want to push her parents that far, but she knew, deep inside, that going through with that marriage would be the end of her.

Summer looked up and her eyes fell on her favorite pictures. A pair of pretty, blond haired girls had squeezed into a photo booth, and was draped over each other as they grinned for the camera. She didn't have to flip the picture over to know what it said on the back. _Heather Landsdown, age 9_ and _Summer Landsdown, age 5._ Heather, her pretty, smart, vivacious older sister who had grown up the Landsdown Heiress, until she'd vanished at sixteen. Summer had been eleven, the unexpected spare daughter who had been partly ignored by her socialite parents. Their money and distraction had gotten her into soccer and karate before Heather vanished, and afterwards, she'd struggled so hard for them. The Landsdowns expected a perfectly mannered, beautiful young lady and Summer, finally receiving the parental love she'd yearned for, had molded herself into the vapid princess they'd wanted.

It had taken the death of Andrews, her family's butler, to jolt her out of the persona of 'Summer Landsdown, Heiress' and back into her real nature. Being a Ranger had confirmed it, there wasn't a snowball's chance in hell that she'd ever be able to be her parents' perfect princess ever again.

Banging on the door drew Summer out of her introspection and she hurried to see what her friends wanted now. "Scott, stop that," she called as she walked over, "I'm coming."

As she reached for the door, Summer felt relief that she'd trained Flynn and Scott to respect her space and knock before coming in the door. Dillon and Ziggy hadn't proved to be a problem for the most part. "So," Scott said as Summer let them in, "who here expected Doctor K to be a guy?"

"Who didn't?" Summer retorted.

"You didn't know?" Flynn asked as he closed the door behind him.

"No," Scott replied, "I lived at the academy before for the most part, and my dad's never been a fan of bringing people home from work. I mean, I think I've heard him say 'her' in reference to Doctor K, but mostly I just ignored that."

"Thanks for the heads up," Summer said as she nervously tugged her shirt down.

"I have a stupid question," Flynn said as they stood there, "actually, I have two."

"Ask away," Scott said, with an expansive gesture.

"First, is there some reason we can't be pulling the couch out while we talk?" Flynn said, "Secondly, am I the only one freaked out by Tenaya's evil robotic hand?"

Scott snorted, "The look on Ziggy's face. Tenaya may be evil, but that was funny."

Summer threw a cushion at Scott, "Not funny, Scott."

"That's what you think," Scott muttered as he set the cushion down and caught the next one, "Seriously though, about Doctor K."

"She's a girl, Scott," Summer said, suddenly and irrationally irritated by the subject, "Can't I at least enjoy the fact that I'm not the only girl in the Garage for a little while, please?"

"Sorry," Scott said, "it's just unusual."

"If I may point out," Flynn said, "we did all handle the time travelers pretty well."

"Yeah," Scott said, "but we had no preconceived notion of what they'd be like."

Summer rolled her eyes and headed into the closet to get the spare sheets and pillows she stored there. When she came back out, they'd both stopped talking, "So," she said, "is it my turn to pick the movie?"

"What do you want to watch?" Scott asked suspiciously.

Summer grinned, "Nothing overly romantic," she told them, "it's called The Adjustment Bureau."

"Ok," Scott said while Flynn shrugged, "I guess I can go for that."

Summer smiled and started the movie.

Summer woke up alone, which was unusual after a movie night and she sighed at the sign that things were not all better between the three of them. She showered and put herself together for the day before sliding her morpher in her pocket and heading out the door. She hadn't taken two steps from her door when the familiar sound of Scott's laughter filled the Garage, along with a light baritone and tenor. Frowning, Summer leaned over the railing to look down, but all she could see was Dillon leaning against his car, and in danger of falling down as he laughed.

It was the first time Summer had ever heard Dillon's laugh, and the sound of it made her smile. The joyful tenor of his laugh gave her hope that Dillon could be saved from the horror of what had been done to him by Venjix. She pushed off the railing and hurried to the stairs to see what had made Scott, Dillon and someone, probably Ziggy, laugh that hard. Stepping off the stairs, Summer found her mysterious laugh did belong to Ziggy, the deep laugh at odds with his skinny frame and higher speaking voice. Then she saw Flynn, and she stopped in shock.

Flynn stood in the middle of the kitchen with a mixing bowl; he'd probably been making breakfast, dressed in his blue polo and the black and green kilt he had been known to wear during night drills. "What happened?" Summer asked.

"All of my pants disappeared," Flynn replied, "and were replaced with frilly, little girl skirts with lace." He glanced down, "Like I'd wear that when I have a kilt."

"Is there a difference?" Dillon asked around his laughter.

"Yes," Summer said before Flynn could respond. "There's a big one, Dillon."

Ziggy shook his head, "I'm sorry, it's just not what you expect to see in the morning."

"Perhaps," Dr K said as she came out of the Ranger Room. She looked at each of the Ranger for a moment, "Ranger Green, you have Phase One training commencing in one hour. Ranger Red, you have free style training beginning at Ten Hundred and Ranger Black, you have sequencing training with Ranger Blue at Thirteen Hundred. Ranger Yellow, you have free style training this afternoon, but may consider yourself to be at liberty this morning." That said, she nodded to each of them and walked back into the Ranger Room.

Liberty, Summer sighed, she had hoped she would be involved in something all morning, just to keep from thinking. "I'll do some laundry then," Summer said.

"I need to do a load," Ziggy said, he shot Dillon a look, "just jeans."

Summer grinned, "That's why we have two washers."

Scott nodded slightly and headed for his car, no doubt intending to pretend he was busy rather than get dragged into a domestic chore. Dillon likewise headed off, running up the stairs two at a time with Ziggy on his heels, saying something about Dillon's jeans. Summer, left facing Flynn, smirked and crossed her arms, "Really?" She said.

"Really," Flynn replied. "Do you think Dillon did it?"

Summer considered it a moment, "No, I don't think he would." She relaxed and moved closer, "Scott might, but not Dillon. Dillon would steal Scott's car for whatever reason, but not your pants. You're not the leader."

"Alpha males," Flynn said with a knowing nod.

"Speaking of males," Summer said and crossed her arms, "something wrong with the sofa, Flynn?"

"What?" Flynn asked, then he flushed and shook his head, "No, Summer. I woke up when Scott got up. You were sleeping so soundly we decided to let you wake yourself up."

"Oh," Summer said, "I'm sorry, it was just so weird to wake up and find you guys weren't there when I knew you'd been there when I went to bed."

"You just need to sleep," Flynn replied.

Summer vaguely heard Ziggy's voice and turned to watch him swing past the pool table on his way to the laundry room, "Thanks for letting me sleep," she said finally. "What are you making?" She relaxed her arms and sidled closer, eyeing his mixing bowl curiously.

"Nothing special," Flynn said, "I woke up with an urge for an omelet. Scott opted for a toasted sandwich and I don't know what Dillon and Ziggy wanted to eat."

An odd splashing noise made them both jump, and the outraged yell that accompanied it had Flynn and Summer sprinting for the laundry room, mixing bowl dropped on the kitchen floor.

Ziggy stood in the laundry room, one of the washers open, and he was soaked from head to toe. "What happened?" Flynn demanded

"I don't know," Ziggy said, trying to clear the water from his face. "I started the machine so I could put my clothes in, opened the lid and water came shooting out."

"Let me look," Flynn said and stepped around Ziggy.

"What's going on?" Scott demanded.

Summer turned from her spot in the doorway, "Someone broke the washing machine," she told him, "Ziggy got a face full of water."

"Hot water," Ziggy added.

"It's not busted," Flynn said, "it's a prank."

"A prank?" Scott said as Dillon appeared in the hallway behind him, "Who would prank the washing machine?"

"Not me," Ziggy said, lifting his hands up in a gesture of innocence.

"Wasn't me," Summer said.

"I wouldn't do it," Flynn said, "I never prank something I have to fix afterwards."

"I don't know how to rig that," Scott said. Then he turned to Dillon, "How about you?"

"How about me what?" Dillon asked, "I don't even know what's going on."

"Someone pranked the washing machine to spray the next person who turned it on," Summer said, putting a hand on Scott's arm to calm him. "Ziggy was the victim."

Dillon held up his hands, "The only thing I can fix is the Fury, and even then I don't get fancy."

"Rangers," Dr K said over the speaker at the end of the hall, the screen above clicked to show, not the K screen, but the face of Dr K, "as you know, the laundry room is one of the rooms that have no monitors, as the corridor is monitored. I cannot tell you who pranked the machine. Ranger Blue, can you restore what was done to the machine?"

"Aye," Flynn called, "if someone will clean the floor up in here when I'm done."

"I'll do it," Summer said instantly.

"I'll help," Ziggy added, he plucked at his wet shirt, "After I change, of course."

"Of course," Summer replied with a fond smile.


	11. Reassessment

The next morning, Scott woke up at his usual time, curled up between Summer and Flynn. It took him a few minutes to fight his way free, but soon enough he was heading out for his morning run. The lights in the Garage were dimmed, as usual, and Scott didn't bother to look around as he headed out the smaller side door he used in the mornings. He run always followed the same path, skirting the edge of the Base, past the small house he'd often wondered about and out into the regular world. He didn't have to run far before he'd left the isolated Base for the city. He loved running through the city as it was waking up. He waved at various people as he passed them and got waves in return from the more awake people. They'd long since adjusted to him running through their part of Corinth in the mornings, and sometimes Scott thought they regarded him with a touch of pride.

All in all, he put in a five mile run, returning to the Garage as everyone else began to wake up. The lights were still off as he ran upstairs to claim clothes from his bedroom and hurried to claim the shower. No doubt the other guys were going to be mad, but as Scott told them every other time, they should have been _faster._

When Scott got out of the bathroom, he found the Garage in an uproar. Summer, coming out of her room, looked as confused as he did, but Dillon's shouting more than made up for it. "How dare you touch my car," Dillon roared.

"It wasn't me," Flynn replied, agitated and defensive, "I wouldn't do something like that."

"Ziggy, _stop laughing,"_ Dillon snapped.

"Sorry," Ziggy said, laughter breaking through for a moment.

Scott leaned over the railing, and if he couldn't see the other Rangers, he could see the cause of Dillon's anger.

Someone had redecorated the Fury. The once black muscle car now bore a bright pink racing stripe as well as writing on the windows. Scott could clearly make out the windshield's message from the second floor. _I changed your diapers, play nice._

Clearly, someone with a lot of time on their hands was involved. Scott headed for the stairs, joined by Summer as he started down. "Did you…?" Summer asked.

"No," Scott replied, "I didn't."

When they cleared the stairs, Scott found Dillon had Flynn backed against a wall of the Garage while Ziggy sat on the floor nearby; from the way his shoulders shook, Ziggy was still trying not to laugh. Scott opened his mouth to establish some order when he caught sight of Flynn's pants. A pair of _his_ sweat pants, to be precise. The bright red material was at deep odds with Flynn's blue polo and black jacket. For a moment, Scott felt a surge of something go through him, followed by anger, "Dillon, back off." He said, stepping around Ziggy and inserting his body between Dillon and Flynn. "Flynn isn't that type of prankster."

"What do you mean that type?" Dillon asked.

"Flynn keeps water guns in the crisper," Scott replied, "and when he's pissed enough he'll cook haggis and other traditional Scottish dishes. He doesn't paint somebody's car and leave cryptic messages."

"Scott's right," Summer said, she put her hand on Dillon's arm and tugged, "it's not something any of us would do. We all know how important your car is to you."

Dillon stared at them for a long moment before he allowed Summer to draw him back. "That is not the only problem we have today," Dr K announced as she walked through the kitchen.

"What do you mean?" Scott asked, moving to let Flynn step away from the wall.

"Last night, all of the interior cameras and audio monitors went out," Dr K replied. "I've managed to restore them, but whoever vandalized Ranger Black's car was not revealed in the security system."

"Just the interior cameras?" Scott asked sharply.

"Yes," Dr K replied. "The interior and exterior cameras operate independently of each other, and there are redundant exterior systems as well. Given the thorough exterior security, and the extensive offensive capabilities within the Base it was decided that extra cameras inside the Base would only be a waste of power better used elsewhere."

"Has anything else been vandalized or otherwise interfered with?" Scott asked, now looking to the other Rangers.

"My kilt and my sleep pants went missing during my shower," Flynn said simply, "that's why I borrowed some of your clothes."

"That's fine," Scott said, "I don't mind." He glanced at Flynn, "Take what you need."

As if his words had been a trigger, the alarms started. As Dr K rushed to the computers, an odd voice came out of all the speakers, "Alert, alert, rabid squirrels are attacking. Alert, alert, rabid squirrels are attacking."

"What the hell?" Scott demanded.

"Security breach in sector twenty," Dr K announced. "I'll debug the system later."

As Scott threw himself into his car, he wondered who had dared hack Doc's computers.

 **…**

They arrived at the site of the security breach only to find nothing. After exchanging long glances with everybody, Scott flipped open his morpher, "Hey Doc, are you sure there's something here?"

"I am positive, Ranger Red."

Scott jerked, Dillon's head whipped around, Flynn's eyes went wide and Summer and Ziggy both covered their mouths with their hands. "Say again, Doctor K," Scott said.

"I am positive, Ranger Red."

Summer started to squeak and Ziggy was turning an alarming shade of red. Flynn was shaking his head from side to side while Dillon stared at the morpher with his mouth wide open. "Are you feeling ok, Doctor K?" Scott asked.

"I am fine, Ranger Red, what seems to be the problem?"

Scott bit his lip as Summer clasped her other hand to her mouth and Ziggy bent over double, Flynn was starting to grin. "You don't exactly sound like yourself."

"I don't see how I could sound like anyone else."

Dillon gave a bark of laughter and Flynn started to rub his mouth, Summer was shaking and squeaking and Ziggy fell to his knees, trembling. "That's the thing," Scott said, "you sound like Minnie Mouse."

That did it. Ziggy howled with laughter as he rocked himself back and forth, Summer's squeaks became giggles and Flynn and Dillon were leaning against each other as they laughed. Scott felt something in him relax; it felt as if he'd been clenching his muscles for weeks, months even.

"Well now, isn't this an interesting sight."

Scott turned slowly as the other Rangers sobered up. Tanaya Seven and a double handful of Grinders were watching them. "Never mind Doc," Scott said, "we found them."

"Indeed," Dr K replied and Summer giggled again.

 **…**

When they got back to the Garage, Dillon stood staring at his car contemplatively. Scott leaned against his car to watch as Summer and Flynn vanished into the back of the Garage. Ziggy hovered by the pool table, watching them nervously. "So," Scott said finally, "when we figure out who did this, what are we going to do?"

Dillon looked up at him, "We?"

"Yes," Scott replied, "we, you, me, Summer, Flynn and Ziggy; the team."

"When I figure it out," Dillon began.

"How?" Scott said, "Name one way you can actually find out who did this without asking one of us."

Dillon was silent.

"My point exactly," Scott replied and straightened up. "When we catch them, what do you want us to do to them?"

"Something involving the color pink comes to mind," Dillon replied.

"I know where we can get plenty of paint," Scott replied.

"Before you two declare eternal revenge on persons unknown," Summer said, "let's see what we can do about cleaning the Fury." She appeared with two buckets, followed by Flynn with the net bag of sponges. Summer set a bucket down by Dillon and beckoned to Ziggy, "This will go faster if we all help."

Scott took a sponge from Flynn and threw it at Dillon, who caught it, "Sounds like a plan to me," he said.

It took them the better part of the afternoon to get all the paint off the Fury, as much because of the water war that Scott and Flynn started as anything. At the end of it when Summer produced beers for everyone but Ziggy and they all found seats, there was a sense of warm camaraderie that Scott had been missing. For the first time, as Scott sipped his beer and looked around he felt it, the bonds of team were there, expanded from just Summer and Flynn but now including Dillon and even Ziggy. As he looked from relaxed face to relaxed face, Scott could hear something deep inside of him saying _teammate, teammate, teammate._

 **…**

"Intergalactic Prank Week," Dr K said softly as she looked over her computer consol at Dr Kendall.

"I know," Dr Kendall groused. "I didn't find out until Tommy dropped by earlier. He swears he isn't involved, but I wouldn't put it past him."

"Why would Doctor Oliver be involved in the first place?" Dr K asked.

"He's a Green," Dr Kendall replied, "this is a Green invention. Before, well, all the Greens were involved to some extent. It's sort of a contest, in fact, the Green Ranger who can make his team cry, any member of his team, wins."

"But why?" Dr K said, utterly bewildered.

"I don't know," Dr Kendall said. "Normally, Greens limit themselves to pranking other Greens and the occasional deserving idiot. During this one week, however, they all run mad. Anyone with a morpher or associated with the rangers is fair game."

"Doctor Oliver could not have possibly done the hacking," Dr K said, "all of that was done inside the Ranger Room and the Zord Bay."

"Then someone on your team did it," Dr Kendall replied, "it's the only real answer."

"But why, and who," Dr K said, well aware that she was edging into whining behavior.

"That I can't say," Dr Kendall said. "I'm not a Ranger, I was Ranger tech." She sighed, "The best I can suggest is use more stringent security measures and hope for the best."

Dr K stared at her computers for a long moment, she couldn't believe that whoever this miscreant was had the unmitigated gall to hack her systems and make the changes they did. She'd found other lines of code in the system that would have produced other annoying results and deleted them. "I'll fix this," she said and caressed her keyboards, "no one will ever mess with my computers again."

"That's my girl," Dr Kendall replied. She smiled at Dr K, "I should probably go. I'm sure you have work to do."

"Yes, of course," Dr K replied, "I will see you next time."

Dr Kendall made for the door to the Ranger Room, but it slid open before she hit sensor range. Dr K watched as Dillon stepped into the room, staring at Dr Kendall with concern. It was the first time her rebellious Series Black Operator had met her lab partner and he eyed her like a dog eyeing a trespasser. Dr Kendall, on the other hand, looked startled and a little stunned. "Hi," Dr Kendall managed finally in a faint voice, she cleared her voice. "Hello."

"Who are you?" Dillon demanded.

"I'm Doctor Hailey Kendall," Dr Kendall replied, "I'm a lab partner of Doctor K. Who are you?"

"Dillon," Dillon replied shortly.

"I'll remember that," Dr Kendall said with a distinctly odd tone in her voice. "It's good to see you… Dillon." She stepped around the Ranger and vanished into the Garage.

Dillon turned to watch her go, a calculating expression on his face. "Did you need something, Ranger Black?" Dr K asked as the doors began to close.

Dillon turned back to Dr K and blinked owlishly, "Actually," he began softly, "I hope you can."

"What is it you need?" Dr K asked warily, watching him.

"That DNA test Scott talked about," Dillon said, "do you think you can run that for me?"

Dr K nodded slightly, "I can."

Dillon stared at her for a long moment, and then sighed almost imperceptibly, "Would you?"

Dr K stood, "I'm going to need a blood sample."


	12. Identity

Flynn woke up in his room, alone and unbearably warm. "What?" He began as he sat up. There was something on his face and he fought for a moment to pull it off. It was his kilt. The warmth was the result of the return of all his pants, even the new ones he'd bought, piled on top his blankets. "Very funny," he muttered and began to make his way off the bed without dumping all the pants onto the floor. As he reached the door, he found a simple printed note. I thought so.

Groaning at the bad early morning humor, Flynn opened the door and stumbled out on to the walkway just as Summer screamed.

Forgetting everything, Flynn ran for Summer's room, barely noting Dillon and Ziggy tumbling out of their rooms as a second sound began to swell, it sounded like…barking.

…

Something was in her bed. That was what first woke Summer. Something was in her bed, and from the noises she could hear, it was sniffing her. Summer opened her eyes, and got a quick impression of big ears, brown eyes and lots of teeth and she screamed.

She jerked up right to find her room filled with puppies, including the beagle pup she knocked off the bed in her moment of panic. All of the dogs began to make noise, whimpering and barking as she stared around the room. All of the sudden, something big and white jumped on the bed and Summer scooted back, and soon determined that this newest dog was an exquisitely groomed white Standard Poodle with a bright yellow collar with a note stuck to it.

Summer, will you marry me?

Summer blinked and stared as the dog suddenly gave a huge shake. Then it lay down across the foot of her bed, watching her. "Summer!" Flynn shouted.

Summer jumped, "Flynn," she called back.

"Are you ok?" Flynn called.

"Fine," Summer replied, she began easing herself off the bed, "be careful if you open the door. Our local prankster struck again."

"What?" Flynn replied.

One of the puppies began to bark and Summer sighed, "I've been invaded," she called dryly, "by dogs. Not the least of which is a large white poodle who apparently wants to marry me." She eased to the edge of the bed and stood up. Mindful of the multitude of small dogs, she made her way to the door and eased it open enough to get out.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Flynn asked.

Summer glanced from him to Dillon and Ziggy, both half dressed and looking nervous, "I'm fine. I was startled to wake up with a dog in my face is all."

"How did they get in there?" Ziggy asked, looking at her door as dogs began to bark again.

"I don't know," Summer replied. "The real question is how we're going to get rid of them."

A loud pop, not unlike a firecracker, followed by Scott's cursing brought them all to the edge of the railing. Scott stood beside the open door of his car, covered from head to toe in glitter. It was swirling around him as he looked up at them and stopped swearing. "What happened?" Summer called.

"I just opened the door," Scott replied, "and the glitter just exploded."

Summer glanced at Flynn and they both grinned briefly, then Summer looked over at Dillon and Ziggy, "You two get dressed," she told them.

Flynn leaned over the banister, "Don't move, Scott," he called, "I'll get the vacuum."

Summer followed Flynn down stairs, collecting the hand vac off of its charger as she passed by. "Are you ok?" Scott asked as she stopped on the edge of the glitter, "Why aren't you dressed?"

"Someone," Summer said as Flynn appeared with the shop-vac, "filled my room with dogs; live ones. Including a large, white poodle that wants to marry me, at least, that's what his little sign says."

Flynn and Scott exchanged glances and began to laugh. As Scott bent over, glitter fell from his hair like a sparkling waterfall. After a few moments, Flynn composed himself and clicked on the vacuum. Glancing at Summer's hand vac, he started clearing the floor towards Scott and around him. As Flynn moved on, Summer followed the clear path. "I'm going to do your hair first," she told her taller teammate, "so bend over." Scott braced himself and Summer turned on her hand vac.

It was a tedious job made easier by Dillon grabbing a broom and sweeping glitter into easy to vacuum piles for Flynn. Ziggy, on the other hand, started breakfast.

Dr K walked out of the Ranger Room carrying a clipboard, took one look at them and sighed. "Don't ask," Summer advised her as she finished with the hand vac. "All right Scott, I think that's the worst of it, but I'd shower or something to make sure."

"Right," Scott said with a smile, "thanks Summer."

"Not a problem," Summer replied.

"Ranger Black," Dr K said, "I would have a word with you."

Dillon looked up from where he'd been trying to sweep under Flynn's truck, "What about?"

Dr K lifted her clipboard, "I have the test results you asked for."

Dillon looked at Dr K for a moment, then at the rest of the team as Ziggy came out of the kitchen. "You can say it in front of them," he said finally. "They'll all find out eventually." He crossed his arms and tilted his head, "So tell us who I really am."

"Genetically," Dr K said, looking at her board, "you are the son of Kimberly Marie Hart and Charles Bradley Johannason, making you James Michael Johannason, age 26. You have two sisters, Emma Caroline, who went missing at the age of five and Rebecca Anne, missing during the evacuation and presumed dead. According to Corinth City records, you were also missing presumed dead. Charles Johannason died in 2015 during a motor vehicle accident but Kimberly Hart is a registered citizen of Corinth."

Summer watched as Dillon stared at the doctor, his face impassive for a long moment before his throat worked twice and he looked at Scott, "You knew."

"I knew there was a strong possibility," Scott agreed. He crossed his arms, "I asked Kim not to come here when she first suspected who you were. There was a possibility that the attention would have prompted you to run. Summer mentioned it and Flynn agreed, but I made the call that you would have to decide when you were ready to know. I won't lie to you, I haven't lied. I have withheld information and phrased things obscurely so that you would have to ask what you wanted to know, but I have not lied."

Dillon nodded his face still impassive, "Thank you, for that much." He looked around the Garage for a long moment. "I want to see her."

"I'll talk to Doctor Oliver," Scott said promptly. "I don't have Kim's contact information, but Doctor O does."

"There's one other thing you should know about your mom," Summer said, "I don't know if you were aware of this before, and we don't share this information with the general public, but Kim Hart is the Elder Pink Ranger and the first Pink Ranger to serve on Earth." She gave Dillon a hesitant smile in response to the Black Ranger's intense stare, "Being a Ranger seems to run in your family."

Dillon snorted and turned slightly away, attacking the glitter he'd been sweeping almost viciously. Summer turned to Scott, "By the way, you weren't the only one who was pranked this morning."

"What do you mean?" Scott asked, surprised.

"Someone filled my room with dogs," Summer replied. "I've been thinking and we should contact Animal Control to get them out of there."

"Dogs," Scott repeated.

"Several," Summer said in her driest tone. "I want them gone, Scott."

"I'll talk to Animal Control before I call Doctor O," Scott agreed and headed for the video phone. Summer took the hand vac to a trashcan and emptied it before putting it back on the charger.

Ziggy glanced over as she sighed, "I'm thinking an omelet would be good for breakfast today."

"You are a life saver," Summer said, "you and Flynn both. I don't know what we'd have done if none of us could cook."

"I'm sure something would have happened," Ziggy replied as he began to pull things from the refrigerator. "I highly doubt that Corinth would permit the Rangers to starve from a lack of culinary skill."

"Perhaps," Summer replied, "You've clearly never met the Colonel then. There were days when I thought he'd just give up entirely."

"Yeah?" Ziggy asked, holding up a pepper and studying it. "What happened?"

"Well, Scott and Flynn liked to drink," Summer said, "they just didn't always manage to hang onto their common sense when they did so." She rested her elbows on the counter and leaned forward, "They were always doing something. I think my favorite was a training exercise involving a night alert. Scott and Flynn were hammered and when they saw the 'bot, Scott stumbled forward, unmorphed and invites the thing to come to the Dark Side because 'we have cookies'."

Ziggy chuckled with delight, "That's awesome," he told her. "I'm surprised that didn't show up in a gossip rag."

"Only the Project Ranger people know about that," Summer told him.

Ziggy glanced over Summer's shoulder, "Speaking of gossip rags." He opened the cabinet under the sink and produced a paper, "You might want to see this."

Summer took the paper and opened it.

It was The Guardian, the paper that catered more to the elite in Corinth, like her parents. That was probably why the story had been run there in the first place. It would, without a doubt be in every paper in Corinth before the end of the day.

YELLOW RANGER HEIRESS SUMMER LANDSDOWN TO WED

"I'm going to kill them," Summer whispered and quickly folded the paper up. "Did anyone else see it?" She asked Ziggy.

"No," Ziggy replied, "I just saw it this morning because I couldn't sleep. Is it true?"

"No," Summer said. She hadn't felt so certain in her life. "I'm not going to marry that over bred, over groomed poodle and I don't care what my parents say about it." She bit her lip and glanced over her shoulder, but Scott was still at the video phone and Flynn was still vacuuming. "You won't say anything to them, will you?" She said to Ziggy, "because I'm going to settle this today."

"Can you?" Ziggy replied, "I don't know much about the rich, but it seems to me they've got a lot invested in this wedding."

Summer nodded, "I just need to talk to Colonel Truman before I talk to them."

"I know I'm not your favorite Ranger," Ziggy said cautiously as he began to dice the peppers, "but if you need back up, I'd be happy to help."

"Would you?" Summer said, "I'd appreciate it. I love my parents, but they can be willfully blind and obtuse at the worst of times."

"I told you I would," Ziggy replied.

Summer sighed in relief; she'd dreaded having to explain to Scott and Flynn about her pending wedding. Then she paused, "You know, I can't believe my parents expect me to marry him anyways." She winked when Ziggy glanced at her, "He hasn't bought me a diamond or proposed or anything like a real man would."

"Is that what you want?" Ziggy asked, "A diamond and a proposal?"

"Well, it would have to be the right people," Summer said, "and it wouldn't be a diamond either way."

"It wouldn't," Ziggy replied.

"No," Summer said, "I was born in April; anyone who feels clever can buy me a diamond. Someone who loves me would by me a real stone, like a garnet or a sapphire."

"Or both," Ziggy offered.

"Or both," Summer said with a giggle. She balled the newspaper up, tossed it in the paper recycling bin, and reflected that this was probably the first serious conversation she'd had with her green teammate. It had been a long time coming.


	13. Revelations

Ziggy and Summer met with Colonel Truman in his private office, "I was given to understand that this was a private matter," the Colonel said, frowning at Ziggy.

"Ziggy is here for moral support," Summer said quietly. "Colonel, I am sure you remember when we had our visitors and you agreed that, if necessary, you would enforce the Eltarean Ranger laws?"

"Of course," Truman said his attention now firmly on Summer.

"My parents are on the edge of violating that law," Summer said. "I think I can stop them, but if I cannot, will your men do their duty?"

"What are they doing?" Truman asked.

"They have decided to see me marry," Summer replied, "and leave the Rangers. I was placed into a position before I became a Ranger where such a marriage would be inevitable, but I find now that it simply isn't possible. If I cannot find a way to stop their plans and they attempt to force me to marriage, I would like to point out that forcing a Ranger from her team, even by means of marriage, could be considered a war crime."

"You want me to do what?" Truman asked.

"If it comes to it, arrest them," Summer said after a long moment. "I don't want to do this, sir, but I don't want them to force me into a marriage against my will. I have two plans to get out of it."

"Three," Ziggy said suddenly, "I have an idea, but you'd have to accept it as a last ditch effort before arrest."

"Ok," Summer said, "we have three plans." She could go with that, she'd asked him if he could think up anything. "I just want to know that if I call and ask, you'll send soldiers down willing to arrest the Landsdowns."

"I don't like this," Truman said.

"Neither do I," Summer replied, "but if people, family or not, are going to try to interfere with the Rangers then the Rangers are going to have to make it clear that such behavior is not tolerated. The only catch is we don't take prisoners or act as a policing agent."

Truman was silent for a long moment, and then he nodded, "All right, Ranger Yellow. Should you have need; the army will back you up."

"Here's hoping that it won't come to that," Summer replied as she stood up. "I appreciate your willingness to help."

"It's not a problem," Truman replied.

As the Rangers walked out to Flynn's truck, borrowed for the day, Ziggy whistled softly, "He really doesn't like me."

Summer laughed, "Colonel Truman doesn't like any of the Rangers. The boys are wild and reckless and he doesn't like that I was railroaded in instead of the military people he liked. You and Dillon are just the icing on his cake of distaste."

Ziggy snickered, "I like that." They climbed in the truck and Ziggy shifted slightly, "So I was thinking that we should take care of Plan C before going to your parents' place."

"What's Plan C?" Summer asked, concerned about Ziggy's nervousness.

Ziggy smiled uncertainly and told her.

…

Scott rarely talked about how uneasy he felt when any of the Rangers were away from the Garage, but when Ziggy and Summer had vanished with Flynn's truck and zero explanation, his uneasiness communicated itself exceptionally clearly. Especially since Dillon was also uneasy. Of course, Flynn reflected, Dillon was probably freaking out because Dr Oliver was bringing Kim over to see him.

Dr K had walked out of the Ranger Room to see Dillon and Scott tandem pacing while Flynn cleaned the kitchen, and cleared her throat, "Ranger Red," she said, "I require your assistance in the Zord simulator. I have projected an improvement to the Eagle Zord and wish to ensure that you can utilize the improvement to peek efficiency."

"Yes Dr K," Scott said, clearly relieved to be doing something.

They arrived a few hours after Ziggy and Summer had left, Kim in a nice sundress, looking anxious and worried. When Dillon came out of the Ranger Room at Scott's warning that they were there, he stopped, staring at her. "James," Kim said, softly.

Dillon blinked a few times, "Mom?"

Kim stepped forward slowly, "Do you remember anything?"

Dillon shook his head a little, "Not really; flashes, impressions, emotions. Sometimes something will make me feel like I'm remembering something, but never a real memory."

Flynn wrapped his wrench on Scott's motor, catching their attention, "There's a conference room behind the kitchen," he said, "if you guys want some privacy."

"Thank you," Kim said.

"Kim," Dr Oliver said, he offered her a leather bound book.

"Right," Kim said, "I brought some photos, would you like to look at them?"

Dillon smiled, Flynn, observing from his spot at Scott's car, was surprised; it wasn't the sarcastic smirk that they had all been treated to, but a happy smile that invited a smile from Kim. "I would like to. The conference room is back here."

Flynn busied himself with pulling the air filter off Scott's car, and when he reached for the new one, he found Dr Oliver offering it to him. "Well," Dr Oliver said, "That was awkward."

"Perhaps," Flynn said, he lifted the filter, "thanks, by the way. I hope Kim wasn't too disappointed."

"What, that James didn't recognize her?" Dr Oliver asked.

"Something like that," Flynn agreed as he put the filter on. "Dillon's been so tense about this meeting, I hope it goes well."

"Me too," Dr Oliver replied, "Kim's been having kittens since I told her that we found James."

"Does it bother you?" Flynn asked suddenly, glancing up at him.

"Does what bother me?" Dr Oliver asked.

"That we call him Dillon instead of James," Flynn replied. "We talked about it, and Dillon knows that if he wants to be called James all he has to do is ask."

"It's his choice," Dr Oliver said, "like James never used his dad's name, he insisted on being a Hart."

"Yeah?" Flynn asked.

"Kim divorced her husband after their youngest daughter, Emma, was kidnapped. I met Charles twice, once at the wedding and once just before that happened and he seemed to make Kim happy so I didn't say anything." Dr Oliver toyed with a ring on his finger, "When he left, Kim was shattered and James saw it. He was ten, and exceptionally aware of what was going on. Before his dad left, he spent a lot of time over at my place with Rebecca, just to keep Rebecca from hearing all the fights. We joked back then that James would make a good black ranger, between his music, his protective nature and his skills."

"He is a great Ranger Black," Flynn said firmly. "We wouldn't accept anyone else."

Dr Oliver's response was forestalled by the return of Summer and Ziggy, who pulled in the Garage and parked on the far side of Dr Oliver's van. The two were laughing as they climbed out and Summer said, "The look on their faces! Oh Ziggy, thank you so much."

Flynn straightened as the pair came around Dr Oliver's van, "Have a good day?" He asked them politely.

"Yeah," Summer said, "Thanks for letting us borrow your truck." She turned, "Ziggy?"

Ziggy was standing at the front of Dr Oliver's van, staring across the Garage at Dr Oliver, who was staring back at him, stunned. "Um," Ziggy said finally, "hi?"

"Hi?" Dr Oliver repeated, and Ziggy flinched. "Hi? Zigreal McKnight, you've been missing for three, almost four years and all you can say is 'hi'?"

"Um, I'm not dead?" Ziggy offered.

"Clearly," Dr Oliver said in a sharp, dry voice. "What happened? Conner called when you vanished, so I know the story he got from Ben's dad."

Ziggy winced, "You heard?"

"Ziggy," Dr Oliver said, "why didn't you go home? Conner and Nia wouldn't have cared about what happened, so long as you were happy."

"Because, something almost happened," Ziggy replied, "not, not between me and Ben, but, when Mr. Jack was yelling at us."

"Oh," Dr Oliver said, "I know what you're talking about. We knew it was a possibility, what with your mom being a sorceress and all."

"It's  _normal?"_  Ziggy said, "But, why didn't Dad say something, or you? I thought I was going to hurt someone."

"That is our fault," Dr Oliver said, "Conner and Nia didn't want to tell you too early, because saying you had been adopted is one thing, but telling people your mother was a sorceress wouldn't have gone over well. They wanted to make sure that both you and Jess weren't going to talk about it to the wrong people."

"Are they here?" Ziggy asked after a long moment, "Any of them?"

"Zoe's here," Dr Oliver said, "Trent and I brought her with the others. Conner, Nia and Jess were at the camp. We heard that Red Dino Thunder was seen in Reefside with Blue and Yellow, but none of them came to Corinth."

"Zoe's here," Ziggy whispered softly even as he shook his head.

Dr Oliver stepped towards Ziggy, who threw himself forward into the man's arms with a sob. "It's ok," Dr Oliver whispered, "it's ok."

Flynn glanced over at Summer, who looked as confused as he felt. "What just happened?" Summer asked.

"I don't know," Flynn replied.

After a moment, Ziggy stepped back, "Sorry, Uncle Tommy," he managed, wiping his eyes.

"Don't worry about it," Dr Oliver replied.

Ziggy glanced at Flynn and Summer and closed his eyes, "I guess you want to know what's happening."

"Please," Summer said.

Ziggy stepped away from Dr Oliver, who slung his arm over Ziggy's shoulder. "My name is Zigreal," Ziggy said, "Ziggy's always been my nickname. I was born on another planet called Adon, which is part of a planetary system called AdonKrev. My dad was the Green Adon Ranger, Ordan. When AdonKrev fell to Grum, my parents sent us to Earth because Uncle Tommy was a good friend of dad and Uncle Gedan."

"I had lost my wife and was dealing with my own twins," Dr Oliver said, "I wasn't prepared to add another set to my life. I knew Conner and his wife Nia were looking to adopt, because they were having trouble having children. I asked, and they agreed to foster the twins, and when we got word that Ordan, Gedan and Gia, their mother, died, Conner and Nia went all the way and adopted them."

"So Jess and I became McKnights," Ziggy shrugged. "Not long after we were officially adopted, Nia became pregnant and had Zoe."

"I think I missed something," Flynn said, "who is Jess?"

"My twin," Ziggy replied, "Jezreal. We're human, before you ask, we just weren't from Earth."

"And you said something about magic?" Summer asked.

"Ordan married a sorceress," Dr Oliver said, "so there was always a possibility of Ziggy and Jess having magic."

"Which nobody told me about," Ziggy added, "when I was fifteen, my friend and I got in trouble from his dad. I was scared and something happened. I felt like something in me, a dark presence, was going to hurt Ben and his dad, so I ran. I didn't know it was a genetic thing and I was terrified I'd hurt my family so I kept running. That's how I ended up where I did before I came here."

"So," Flynn said, "we have an amnesiac cyborg and an alien on the team." He turned to Summer, "What did you do today?"

"I am NOT an alien," Ziggy protested.

"Oh, Ziggy and I got married." Summer said cheerfully.

"What?" Scott demanded, making them all jump.

"Uh, we also got divorced," Ziggy offered.


	14. More than Memory

Scott looked around the group, "Would someone please explain to me what is going on?"

Summer lifted her hand, "I got this," she grinned at Ziggy. "My parents are  _the_  Landsdowns, the ones with more money than they need. They agreed to give me space this past year if I got married at the end of it. The person they picked out is Kira's nephew, and the nickname 'family poodle' is more apt for the son than it ever was for the father. I don't want to get married yet, or ever perhaps. My parents haven't been the most accepting of the news so I've been trying to find ways to stop this. Ziggy found out about it from the social pages, wherein my idiot parents decided to announce the wedding without my knowledge or permission. He offered to help me get my parents off my back. Talking didn't work, playing the 'I am an adult' card didn't work, I've tried them. Ziggy suggested that we make it impossible for the marriage to happen, by us faking a marriage. Mayor Auerbach helped us with the paperwork, so it is, technically, legally binding, but we've also filed annulment papers so that in the future if either of us chooses a government recognized relationship with another person we can do that."

"Why didn't you ask us to help?" Scott asked.

Summer hesitated, "Because I," she began, then stopped. "Because I thought I could handle it," she said finally. "I didn't want to make a big deal about my parents."

"Everyone else is," Scott said, "I mean, how many times a day do I complain about my dad? Flynn's dad is always cooking for us. Dillon just met his mom again. I think Ziggy's the only one of us who hasn't had parental drama."

"They're dead," Ziggy said, in a flat, uncompromising tone, "no drama there."

Scott hesitated, "What happened while I was helping Dr K?"

Summer couldn't help it, she laughed. "I think Flynn is the only one of us who didn't change," Ziggy offered.

"I think I agree," Flynn said. "It's like an explosion of information, I'm not sure I can wrap my head around it."

The alarms went off, and all thoughts on the new revelations vanished as the Rangers gathered in the briefing area. Dillon and Kim came out of the back, with Dillon adjusting his jacket as he joined them. "The shield is being disrupted," K announced over the intercom. "I'm tracking the source. In the mean time, we have two identified attack bots. One is in the greater park of sector seventeen, the other is downtown. Preliminary reports from the defense say Tenaya's downtown."

Scott nodded and turned, "Ziggy, Dillon, take downtown. Keep the bot in check and figure out what Tenaya's up to. Summer, Flynn, we're going to the park."

"Call us if you need us," Dillon said and raced for his car, Ziggy on his heels.

"Doctor Oliver, Kim," Scott added as Flynn and Summer started their vehicles. "Thanks for coming." He sprinted into his car and followed the others out.

The attack bot in the forest was an iron monstrosity complete with two dozen Grinders. "Are we ready for this?" Scott asked as they lined up.

"Are we ever?" Summer replied.

"RPM," they shouted in unison, "Get in gear!"

…

Dillon and Ziggy found Tenaya and her attack bot just off the biggest commercial park in downtown. "This is going to be fun," Ziggy muttered as he slid out of the car.

"You worry about the bot," Dillon told him, "leave Tenaya to me."

"Something about that doesn't sound fair," Ziggy replied as they met in front of the car.

"RPM," the two shouted, "Get in gear!"

…

Dr K knew that their guests were still at the Garage, but she didn't take the time to acknowledge them. On the one hand, she had to make sure that the Rangers were fighting at full power, and on the other, she had to find the source of the shield disruption. Her communications channel opened, "Doctor K," Colonel Truman began.

"Not now," K snapped, "if you haven't noticed we're a little busy."

"If that shield collapses," Colonel Truman said.

"You really are burning through stupid statements today," K said, "stop calling me." She killed the comm line in favor of contacting Summer, "Ranger Yellow, my scan of the bot indicates a possible weakness in the groin. May I suggest you use your Zip Charger?"

"Got it," Summer replied breathlessly; "Zip Charger!"

"That got him," Scott said, "let's finish this. Engine cell activate!"

Dr K watched the power levels fluctuate under the use of the Road Blaster and nodded. "I am sending coordinates," she told the Rangers, "the shield disruption is coming from somewhere in a three block radius, most likely at a high point."

"On it," Scott replied.

Dr K switched to Ziggy and Dillon. "Ziggy, move," Dillon snapped as she keyed the audio to full.

"Argh," Ziggy cried in a combination of rage and pain, "Turbo Axe!"

"Hey Doc," Dillon grunted, "any chance of some back up?"

"Rangers Red, Blue and Yellow are tracking the source of the shield disruption," Dr K replied, "if the disruption continues for much longer, Tenaya Seven and an attack bot will be the least of our worries."

"Great," Dillon said. "Send them this way if ever you can."

Dr K sighed, glanced from her screens to the one showing the guests, watching what they could see on the briefing screen. She hesitated a minute, then routed one of the visual feeds for Dillon and Ziggy to the briefing area for them.

"Doc, we found the disruption," Scott announced several minutes later. "It's a satellite robot."

Dr K brought the visual up from Scott's helmet and sucked in a breath, one the last communications from the South America dome city had been a visual of a similar bot. "Rangers Black and Green," she said, "disengage, and rejoin Red, Blue, and Yellow immediately."

"But Tenaya," Dillon began.

"Immediately," Dr K roared, "as in right now. I've sent the coordinates. We must stop the satellite bot from disrupting the shields at all costs." Assured that the two Rangers were moving, Dr K activated communications with the briefing room, "Doctor Oliver," she said.

"Yes Doctor K," Oliver replied.

"There are Rangers in Corinth who might still morph, correct?" Dr K asked.

"There are," Oliver said cautiously.

Dr K nodded, "If the Rangers are unable to stop the satellite bot before the shield comes down, we're going to need their help."

"I don't understand," Ms. Johannason said, "why is that one so dangerous?"

"Because bots of a similar design have been credited with the destruction of at least two domed cities," Dr K replied. "That information is classified at the highest level, as you are Rangers; I am using my discretion as the head of Project Ranger to share this. The sat bots will release a virus once the shields are weak enough, and that virus will prevent us from reinitializing the shields, making us vulnerable." She frowned at the screen and sent more commands. This was going to be a tough battle.

…

Dillon and Ziggy arrived at the battle just in time to be knocked out of morph by the sat bot and knocked sprawling. Dillon surged to his feet, fumbling with his morpher, "That wasn't as funny as you think it is," he told the bot.

"That's what you think," the sat bot replied, "Identifying organic." Dillon growled and lifted his wrist to morpher. "Identified, Subject D-44, Venjix Hybrid Experiments," the bot announced before he could morph.

Dillon closed his mouth as Scott said, "Get away from them."

"How unfortunate that you chose to leave the project, Subject D-44," the sat bot said, "but not all of you left."

"What do you mean by that?" Dillon demanded.

"I have your memories, Subject D-44, a gift from my master."

Dillon froze as the world spun around him for a brief moment, then a shoulder bumped his as Ziggy stepped forward, "Venjix lies," Ziggy said, "and so do you. The technology to do as you're implying doesn't exist."

"How can you be sure of that?"

"Because I know a little bit more about technology than you might think," Ziggy replied.

"It doesn't matter," Scott said, "you're going down."

"Wait," Dillon said, "if it has my memories."

"Ziggy's right," Flynn began.

"Rangers," Dr K said, "the veracity of the sat bot's accusation notwithstanding, he must be destroyed. Ranger Black, you must trust me on this."

"A machine can't just copy and delete memories," Ziggy said, catching Dillon's arm and his attention. "Not on Earth. Venjix never made contact off planet before we were sealed off, so whatever technology he accesses won't be that exacting."

Dillon looked at his team, at the city that was all he knew, and he thought of the pretty lady in a pink sundress that he had once called Mom. He thought of his sisters, one missing for twelve years, the other lost in the evacuation; sisters that were pictures and not memories. He lifted his wrist and stepped back, "RPM," he stated calmly, "Get in gear."

Ziggy belatedly followed him into morpher and Dillon looked away from the team. "Ranger Black," Dr K said softly, "please. Stop this bot now and I will bring the best and the brightest in Corinth to find that memory chip, if it exists."

"You can do that?" Dillon asked.

"If it is in my power," Dr K said, "you will get your memories back."

Dillon thought of tiny, young Dr K, who struggled so hard to keep one step ahead of Venjix. He had felt protective of the doc from the first time he saw her, and now she was asking him for trust. Dillon looked at his team, "I am more than the sum of my memories."

"Let's do this," Scott replied, lifting his fist. "Street Saber Strike!"

…

After the battle, Flynn was left to oversee the retrieval of the bot while Dillon and the others returned to the Garage. "So," Dillon said when they got back to the Garage, "Ziggy told me you got married, Summer. I have to say, congratulations." He couldn't bring himself to smile as he said it, but from her return look, she understood.

"I wouldn't have done it if I had another choice," Summer said.

"Oh, James," Kim said, "I have to go, but I was going to leave the rest of the photo albums for you."

"All right," Dillon said. To cover how uneasy he felt at being called James, he stepped forward and offered his arm, "Maybe we can get together when things are a little less hectic."

"I'd like that," Kim replied and hugged him.

"Zoe is staying with Trent," Dr O said from behind him, "Ziggy, you need to go see her before she moves in with the Samurai."

"The who?" Scott asked.

"The Samurai," Dr O replied, "started the 'First Generation Era', that is, the first of the teams that grew up, and to some extent were born, after Rita was freed. Some of the Rangers of Zordon's Era have kids on those teams, although not technically the Samurai."

"So they're Rangers," Summer said.

"Yes," Dr O said, "they're also Samurai, which is why we call them the Samurai. We have two of them here, Mike and Emily. We know two of the original team, their first red, Jayden and their gold, Antonio, are in Russia, but the second red and the other two are missing in action."

"And Zoe hangs out with them," Ziggy finished, "I thought she was going to be a Ninja like Uncle Eric."

"Emily says she's a perfect Samurai candidate," Dr O replied, "if she thought she could, Emily would probably adopt Zoe as her own daughter."

"Wait," Dillon said, "who is Zoe?"

"My little sister," Ziggy replied, and then snapped his fingers, "I forgot, you weren't around for that conversation."

"We should go," Dr O added, "Lexi and Leigh will be worried."

"Not to mention I'll be late for my class," Kim added.

Dillon watched the two of them as they climbed into Dr O's van, his head tilted sideways. "What?" Ziggy asked.

"Just, trying to figure them out," Dillon replied.

"Kim and Uncle Tommy dated in high school," Ziggy replied as the van left. "It ended badly, but everyone says they still love each other, they're just afraid to admit it."

Dillon turned his gaze on Ziggy, who blushed, "I'll explain," he said, "after the debriefing."

"You'd better," Dillon said, slinging his arm over Ziggy's shoulder.


	15. Briefing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I recommend reading The Outsiders. You'll learn about some OCs I've mentioned in the Brotherhood or Summer's Boys and meet a few new ones. I know the pov here skips around a bit, but I tried not to make it too horrible. Also, there is a two day skip here to advance the story and because I ended the chapter at a point that was too early for my average word count and I decided to add that last bit on. I would like to announce a policy. If you know, or think you know something about a character that I haven't written confirmation for, please feel free to PM me and ask. Anyone who asks for a spoiler will be warned and if you still want to know, I'll tell you if I can.
> 
> P.S. Mike and the meat is headcanon from the 'Not Canon Samurai Series', I think it was in Blinders Off, but it could have been in The Clash. The rest of that was just pure fun.

Dr K spent most of her time in her secondary lab working on the sat bot's memory processors for the week following the battle, leaving the Rangers to their own devices. Ziggy brought Zoe to the Garage on the third day after her existence had been revealed. She proved to be a pretty girl of about thirteen, with straight brown hair and brown eyes. Summer was struck by her resemblance to Conner, especially with the soccer ball motif on her t-shirt. "Zoe," Ziggy said, "these are my teammates, Scott, our red, Summer, our yellow, Flynn, our blue, and Dillon, our black. Everyone, this is my little sister, Zoe McKnight."

"Welcome to the Garage," Summer said with a smile as she offered her hand, "I'm sorry it's taken so long for you to come here."

Zoe smiled as she shook her hand, "I don't blame you," she said cheerfully, "Ziggy's an inconsiderate idiot, and he always has been. I'm just glad that someone's safe besides me." She tilted her head a little, "So you're yellow, just like Emily. I'm not; Emily thinks I'm a Red like my Dad. I don't think she's right though."

"You could be," Scott offered, "no two reds are identical, Zoe. Besides, the only person you can ever be is yourself."

Summer raised an eyebrow at Scott, "Now you think of something profound to say, really?"

"What do you mean?" Scott asked.

"Every time we get drafted for school assemblies and whatnot, you barely say two words," Summer replied, "You leave me to answer your questions and I look like an idiot because I have no clue what to say."

Flynn coughed, "Would you like a smoothie?" He asked Zoe with a polite smile.

"Sure," Zoe replied.

"Flynn makes the best smoothies," Ziggy added, steering Zoe away from Summer and Scott's discussion. "He doesn't offer to make them for just anyone though. Don't mind Summer and Scott, they've been snapping for days now, it's not because of you."

"Although you are the first sibling we've had in the Garage," Flynn commented. "I'd say family, but Colonel Truman comes over whenever he wants to escape work and Dillon's mom has been by to see him. My dad is bringing barbeque tonight too."

"Flynn's dad makes the best barbeque," Ziggy said, "given that he's Scottish, I was pleasantly surprised."

"Like Uncle Adam?" Zoe asked as they settled at the bar.

"I can't make a fair comparison," Ziggy temporized, "given that Adam favored a different style of barbeque than Mr. McAllister does. I will say he's better than Dad."

"Gas cooked barbeque is better than Dad," Zoe replied.

"What kind of smoothie would you like?" Flynn asked.

"Orange banana," Zoe said promptly, "please and thank you."

Flynn smiled, "It's not a problem, lass." He frowned at Ziggy, "If you can leave my apples alone, I'll even make you one."

Ziggy innocently rested his hand on Zoe's shoulder, "I haven't touched your apples in days, Flynn, and I only did that one time because someone ate the last of mine."

Flynn snorted and set to work on the smoothies. "So," Zoe said, "I see you got off that vegan kick again."

Ziggy shrugged, "I eat what's cooked around here. At least, if Flynn makes it, I'll eat it."

"What's vegan?" Dillon asked as he leaned against the bar.

"No animal based foods," Ziggy said and waved his hand lightly, "not just meat-free, but dairy too. If an animal created it, I didn't eat it."

"Shame," Zoe said, "I'm beginning to understand what you saw in vegan eating."

"Really?" Ziggy asked.

"Mike, Emily's whatever, he's a social meat eater. If they're having a dinner party or visiting people, then he'll eat meat. Otherwise, Emily cooks vegetarian stuff for him. She has some great recipes." Zoe replied, "I like hanging out over there to get away from Luce mostly, but the food is always a bonus."

"A social meat eater," Dillon repeated incredulously.

"I know," Zoe said with a grin.

"Emily's whatever?" Ziggy added.

"The last time Emily brought home people from work, Mike introduced himself as Emily's lesbian life partner," Zoe replied. "Emily still hasn't managed to convince them he's not transgendered. She started calling him her 'whatever' after that. It's a reminder that they can separate if he's too much trouble."

"Mike's a green, isn't he?" Ziggy asked.

"Through and through," Zoe agreed. "Poor Emily, she had to bear the brunt of IGPW this year. She said on the one hand she was happy that he's recovered from the attacks enough to participated, but on the other she wished they knew more Rangers for him to target."

"What's IGPW?" Scott asked as he and Summer joined them.

Ziggy shook his head at his sister, but she only smirked, "Intergalactic Prank Week." Zoe spun her stool, "It's kind of a holiday for green rangers and an excuse for them to show off all their best tricks. Dad always thanked God the Dino Thunders didn't have an actual green on their team, Dr O was bad enough."

Ziggy sighed softly as he became the target of everyone's glance, Flynn even took his finger off the blender button, "Ziggy," Scott said.

"It wasn't all me!" Ziggy protested. "I didn't do anything to Doc's computers, or the washing machine or Dillon's car. I mean, yes, I played a few pranks, but nothing big."

"What about the dogs?" Summer asked.

"They said I had to," Ziggy replied, twisting to look from Summer to Dillon and back. He moved too much, however, and sent his chair crashing to the ground before anyone could react.

"Is everything all right Rangers?" Dr K asked as she walked out of the Ranger Room with Hailey.

Ziggy scrambled up as everyone turned, "Its fine, Doc," Scott said. "We were just entertaining Ziggy's little sister Zoe."

"Yeah," Ziggy said, "Zoe, this is Doctor K. Doctor K did all the work behind Project Ranger before Venjix got loose. Doctor K, this is Zoe McKnight, my little sister. You know Hailey."

Zoe smiled, "Of course I know Hailey. I didn't realize you were with Project Ranger though?"

"I consult," Hailey replied, "why don't I give you a lift home? Ziggy and the Rangers have a mission."

"Ok," Zoe said. She slugged her brother in the shoulder, "Let me know how you're doing Zigreal."

"I will," Ziggy replied with a faint smile, "I will."

"Rangers," Dr K said, "if you will come to the conference room now."

They gathered in the conference room and Dr K studied them, "Today," she said, "we successfully finished downloading Ranger Black's memories. However," she continued before they could react to the news, "we cannot complete the transfer to Ranger Black at this time."

"Why not?" Dillon asked.

"There is no equipment in Corinth capable of such a work," Dr K replied. "Altering your memories will require tampering in the hippocampus, the amygdala, the striatum and the mammillary bodies of your brain."*

"In Corinth," Scott said, "is there anywhere it can be done?"

"Plenty of places off world," Ziggy offered as he twisted his chair back and forth. "Memory alteration is a favored technique for spies and deep cover police." He glanced up and found everyone staring at him, "What, I know stuff. Mom and Dad didn't leave me totally ignorant of my culture and history."

"Ranger Green is correct," Dr K announced, "for the most part. However, during my time at Alphabet Soup, I worked on a project involving the memory centers and their manipulations. The prototype machine was never finished and is possibly still in the ruins of Alphabet Soup." She leaned forward on the table, "Rangers Black and Green, the mission is for you two to go into the wasteland to the location of Alphabet Soup. I will provide you with coordinates. You will retrieve the specific information about Project Moneta that will enable the reconstruction of the device here. I warn you now, Ranger Black, it will take a great deal of time to recreate Moneta, and to ensure that the project will work with little to no damage to your brain."*

"But it's a chance," Dillon said.

"Excuse me," Ziggy said, "but you want to send just the two of us into the wasteland, Doc? Is that safe?"

"I didn't become a Ranger to be safe," Dillon muttered.

"Ranger Green, you and Ranger Black are among the few who have walked the wastelands and lived. Ranger Green, you are the only person to successfully leave the city and come back, moderately in one piece. This is an intelligence mission, not a combat mission. I have every confidence that you can return." Dr K said, "Ranger Red, during Rangers Black and Green's absence, I require you to coordinate with Blue and Yellow to achieve the level of efficiency you showed prior to Black and Green's arrival in Corinth."

Scott looked at Summer and Flynn, "You can count on us, Doctor K," he said firmly.

Dr K nodded sharply, "Rangers Black and Green, tomorrow, I will instruct you in what you need to know in regards to Alphabet Soup. I suggest in the meantime that you both prepare for your journey."

"How far are we going?" Dillon asked.

"I cannot accurately predict the changes in the landscape that might hamper your progress; however, I made the gauntlet from the Soup to the training center in almost three days. I presume your journey will be of an equal or lesser time period." Dr K replied firmly before she left the room.

Ziggy sighed, "I guess we're leaving the dome then," he stood up, "I'll be in my room, I have something to take care of."

They watched him leave and Dillon sighed, "I need to see about supplies, and gas."

"Actually you don't," Flynn said, "remember, your car doesn't run on gas anymore. I'll show you where we keep the spare water containers." He stood up and Dillon followed.

Scott looked at Summer, who smiled a little. "They are not subtle, your friends," she told Scott.

"They're your friends too," Scott replied.

"I know," Summer said. She leaned forward, resting her arms on the table, "Are you still mad at me?"

Scott blinked, "I haven't actually been mad," he admitted finally.

"You were jealous," Summer supplied, "because I asked Ziggy for help."

"It's more that you asked him to marry you," Scott admitted after a moment.

"He asked me," Summer corrected Scott. "I said yes because we both knew from the beginning that we didn't feel that way about each other. It's like marrying for citizenship, you know, to let a friend stay in the country when their visa runs out. Besides, it's not like we really were married, it was annulled on the same day."

"Now I know you come from money," Scott said, a touch of a teasing grin on his face.

"Why is that?" Summer asked.

"Rich people are always doing crazy things like getting married for five minutes," Scott replied, "My brother was always making fun of that one singer because she had a five minute marriage, among other things."

Summer sat back with a smile, glad that they'd cleared the air. "Scott, I really don't plan to get married. Chip called what he had a family group, they weren't married, but they shared everything anyway. My parents won't understand, but I really don't care, it's not like they were a big part of my life in any meaningful way."

Scott stood up and moved around the table, when Summer turned to stand up, he shook his head slightly. She stayed put, watching as Scott approached and leaned down to brace himself on the arms of the chair, "I don't care," he told her, "as long as you don't hate me, I'll be right here." Then he kissed her gently.

…

Dillon's car was packed with water and food, more than what anyone but Dillon had considered necessary. Dillon had changed out of his team jacket for a hooded vest and the leather jacket he'd brought in with him, and when Ziggy got closer, he saw that the older man was fiddling with a gasmask. "Do you think we'll need them?" Ziggy asked as he circled Dillon carefully.

"Better safe than sorry," Dillon replied bluntly. He reached in the car and pulled out a green and grey vest. "You're going to need this to. If the air goes bad, it'll help create an air seal for you."

"Ok," Ziggy said and slid out of his jacket. "It's going to be hot out there."

"Better hot and safe than cool and dead," Dillon replied.

"Are you two about ready?" Scott called as he came down the stairs, Flynn and Summer behind him.

"As ready as we'll ever be," Dillon said, tossing the mask back in the car. "We've got water, food, air supplies."

"Lemon and lime suckers," Ziggy added as he settled the vest and pulled his jacket back on. "Dr K's directions, device for downloading the project, morphers."

Colonel Truman and Dr K came out of the Ranger Room, "I'm not sure this is a wise idea," Colonel Truman said.

"Good thing we didn't ask your permission," Dillon replied. "We'll be at the gate in ten minutes, Colonel."

"We'll open it for you," Truman replied.

The two Rangers slid into Dillon's car with a silent glance. Ziggy fastened the seatbelt as Dillon gunned the engine. "This is nice," he offered finally as they left the Garage, "just the two of us, heading off into the wasteland, no idea if we're going to make it back."

"Shut up," Dillon growled, "I had to listen to you the entire time last time. Let's try for a little silence this time, at least until we get out of the city."

"As you wish," Ziggy replied, staring out the window.

"Besides, we'll make it back," Dillon said, "Rangers don't know how to fail."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Wikipedia to the rescue! The 'bodies of the brain' came from a list of possible memory centers...I have a completely inaccurate theory cooked up for how Dillon could get his memories back based on the body using electricity but I didn't want to go into it here. Also Moneta: Roman Goddess of Memory...sort of.
> 
> Author is not responsible for inadverdent Princess Bride joke...however she has willingingly chosen to keep it in the story.


	16. The Mission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This references Ghosts (the RPM episode, not the movie) Fun LOTR reference. Bad descriptions of scenery, but I tried to stay true to what we saw at the end of the episode Dr K. Expands on the end of The Outsiders, and I didn't have to dump or blow up the Fury. (Two possible scenarios to explain why Dillon and Ziggy were in the Zords at the end of The Outsiders). Did not include Tenaya or Venjix the 'Bot though. Also, long chapter. SAB is a real school, and very elite, and Drunken Fist Kung Fu is an actual style, Ziggy just doesn't use the actual moves, it's more the concept of the action. Maybe decent action scenes. Enjoy!

The trip to Alphabet Soup was difficult, with the scraps of machines from the last battle causing them to deviate from the most direct route. Dillon struggled to be patient, but he wanted to be there  _now._  He wanted to look at pictures and know the story behind them, he wanted to look at his mom and know who she was. He wanted to remember his sister. Ziggy was mostly silent on the journey, occasionally commenting on something he saw, or asking Dillon about the drive. The normally verbose green ranger seemed inclined to be quiet for a change and Dillon relished at first. Finally, on the second day of their mission, after they had been forced to stop to clear some scrap metal from their road, he asked, "What's wrong?"

Ziggy sighed, "I'm happy I have Zoe back." He glanced around at the piles of gravel and rock that had hemmed in their path for the past few hours.

"But?" Dillon asked as they climbed back in the Fury.

"She's not Jessie," Ziggy replied.

"Jessie is your twin, right?" Dillon said.

"Right," Ziggy agreed. "Zoe said Mom and Jessie were on the bus behind hers, and it blew up."

Dillon was silent for a moment, "I'm sorry," he tried finally.

"It's not fair," Ziggy said, "I don't want Zoe to be dead, but why Jessie?"

"I don't know," Dillon replied. "Why did my sister die, or Scott's brother? None of us could have stopped Venjix. All we can do is defeat him and rebuild. We'll make our lost ones proud of us that way."

"Do you think so?" Ziggy asked.

"I know so," Dillon said firmly. He glanced outside, "It'll be dark soon. Keep your eye out for cover; it's not safe to drive at night this close to Corinth and the patrols."

"Right," Ziggy replied. He twisted a little to look out his window better. "Jessie was going to be a ballerina," he said after a moment. "She was an incredible dancer too. When we were eleven, she was accepted into the School of America Ballet, and Zoe said she was talking about the New York City Ballet before it happened. She used to be so mad at me sometimes because I wouldn't dance with her."

"Do you dance?" Dillon asked as he spotted what looked like a good spot.

"I did when I was little," Ziggy said. "My mom, she insisted that if Jessie was going to take martial arts, I had to take dance. I didn't mind, really. I like dancing almost as much as I like martial arts."

"Ziggy, I've seen you fight," Dillon said as he backed the car into the cul-de-sac he'd spotted. "You aren't very coordinated."

Ziggy chuckled, "Ever heard of drunken monkey kung fu?"

"No," Dillon replied shortly as he shut off the engine.

"Well, there's a type of martial arts called the 'drunken style' which is based on being unpredictable and often resembles a drunk stumbling around. One of my teachers was a fan of it, so he taught his more agile students the basics of it. After I," Ziggy paused, "after I left, well, at first I was scared, and uncertain of what I was doing, but I didn't want to seem to be either overly knowledgeable or overly skilled. I didn't want people to give me a gun, mostly. I used the principle of drunken fist as a cover. I couldn't pass a driving test, for instance, but I could handle most cars they made me drive. Essentially, I conned the mob by seeming incompetent, and I seemed incompetent by acting unpredictable. Some of it is natural aspects of my personality that have been exaggerated, like talking all the time, and some of it, I down played, like how coordinated I can be."

Dillon stared at him for a long moment, and Ziggy glared back, "I survived nine months out here, Dillon. If I was as incompetent as I act, I would have been dead in a day."

"I never said I didn't believe you," Dillon pointed out.

"But you don't," Ziggy replied.

"I never said that," Dillon said.

"I can tell," Ziggy said.

A loud boom caused the two of them to stop talking. They exchanged glances and slid out of the car. Dillon pointed to the back of the cul-de-sac and Ziggy nodded. Quietly, they scrambled up the pile of rocks and rubble that formed the back and peered together over the top. The area before them had been a large area cleared by the rubble with a building in the center of it. That building was now mostly gone and smoke poured out of it. A group of humans was running from the building, chased by Grinders. More Grinders were mixed in battle with people Dillon couldn't see clearly through the smoke. Ziggy ducked below the rock and hissed, "We should help them."

Dillon hesitated, and then ducked down, "We can't let them find the car."

"We won't," Ziggy said. "Once we get down, I'll teleport us over the hill. They'll have no idea where we came from. We can drive off those Grinders and point them towards Corinth."

"Fine," Dillon said and slid down the pile. He knew about Ziggy's teleportation, how it worked best if the green ranger didn't think too hard about it. They were going to help those people, and if Ziggy said he could teleport them out, then he could do it.

Ziggy slid down beside him and stood, "Ready?"

Dillon slid the engine cell into his morpher, "Ready."

"RPM Get in Gear," they said together.

Ziggy wrapped his arm around Dillon's shoulders and reached over to touch his morpher, "Teleport," he said firmly.

It was difficult to describe how Ziggy's ability worked. It was as if the world faded out of view and then back in, only you weren't where you started. Of course, the question could be where you were when you arrived, but Ziggy had been getting better at that part. This time, their arrival was neatly between the humans and the Grinders. "Nice," Dillon breathed as they separated.

"I've been practicing," Ziggy replied.

The Grinders slowed and raised their blasters. "So have I," Dillon replied, "Invincibility Shield!"

He held the shield long enough for Ziggy to get his nitro blaster ready then dropped it, using Ziggy's cover fire to ready his own weapon. In the brief moment before the Grinders charged, Ziggy glanced over his shoulder, "Run!" He called, "Get clear, we've got this."

Dillon glanced back to see some of the humans had slowed down, "Get out of here," he shouted to them even as he converted his nitro blaster to its sword mode.

Ziggy was right beside him as he summoned his Rocket Blaster and charged. Although Ziggy fired with the nitro blaster, he had the Turbo Axe in his other hand while Dillon fired with the Rocket Blaster and carried the nitro sword. They hit the Grinders in a hail of laser fire and pivoted to stand back to back. As Dillon fought, he was aware of Ziggy behind him, not fighting in his usual manner, where he seemed to block Grinders by accident, but with an economy of motion that Dillon had often wished to see in his friend.

The Grinders had them surrounded before too long, and then the numbers seemed to increase between one moment and the next. There was a flash of black, and a Grinder Dillon hadn't noticed was flying away from him, followed by two black clad figures. "What the," he grunted.

"Greetings," one figure said before flipping a Grinder.

"Rangers," the other one added.

"You looked like," the first one said.

"You needed help," the second finished.

"I wouldn't say no," Dillon allowed.

"I would say yes please," Ziggy retorted.

"Ok," the two said in unison.

Dillon dealt with a trio of Grinders that were trying to coordinate, badly, and paused to study their fighting companions. Although his first impression had been of black clad warriors, a second look screamed _Rangers_  to him. From the helmets and accents, they were Gold and Silver Rangers. From the symbols they had on their chest and belts, they might be related to Project Ranger. "Don't suppose you've ever heard of Doctor K," he said suddenly, attacking a knot of Grinders.

"We have," Gold said.

"Is she," Silver said.

"Ok?" They finished together.

"She's in Corinth," Ziggy replied, "as safe as any of us can be."

"She created our morphers and abilities," Dillon added, "Did she make yours?"

"Yup," Gold said, "before she."

"Made yours," Silver finished.

There were no more Grinders around them and Dillon turned to face the two rangers, "Power Down," he declared, with Ziggy half a beat behind him, "I'm Dillon," he said, "this is Ziggy. We're from Corinth and we're looking for Alphabet Soup."

"I'm Gem," Gold said.

"I'm Gemma," Silver said.

"We can," Gold continued.

"Take you," Silver finished.

"That's ok," Dillon began.

"Dillon," Ziggy said, gripping his arm and pulling him back from the two Rangers. "They probably could get us there faster than just driving around. I know you don't want to lose the Fury, but they're Rangers."

"There have been evil Rangers," Dillon muttered.

"I don't think they are evil," Ziggy replied. "They don't feel evil."

"Ziggy," Dillon began.

"Dillon," Ziggy replied, "I may not have learned all that magic stuff, but I trust my instincts and they say Gem and Gemma are on our side." He turned to look at the pair, "How do we get there?"

"We have."

"Our Zords."

The two pointed over head and a pair of Zords swooped into view.

Ziggy looked at Dillon as if to say  _see._  Dillon hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "What kind of cargo space do you have in those Zords?"

…

They loaded the Fury into Gem's Falcon Zord, and Dillon had to admire his friend's restraint at not calling it a chicken or rooster despite the uncanny resemblance, while Gemma's 'tiger jet' was better named. With the sun already on its way down, they agreed as a group to camp before heading to Alphabet Soup the next morning. Gem and Gemma proved to be Asian twins who were dressed in matching black track suits with their designated colors as accents. They also proved to be incapable of speaking independently of each other. Dillon finally stopped shifting his glance back and forth, as they talked, and just went about checking on his car and eating while listening to their conversation with Ziggy with half an ear.

The complex that had been home to Dr K and Gem and Gemma was a ruin now, both from the attack by Venjix nearly two years before, and the lack of maintenance ever since. "How are we going to find anything here?" Dillon asked as the four of them regarded the large complex.

"We'll show you," Gem and Gemma said in their alternating manner. "What are you looking for?"

"We need the computer files for Project Moneta," Ziggy replied, "the memory alteration project. Doctor K is going to build a prototype."

"Why would she do that?" Gem and Gemma asked.

"It doesn't matter," Dillon said bluntly, "do you know where we can find them and will you take us there?"

"Of course," Gem and Gemma replied.

They led the way into the ruin and Dillon followed, Ziggy glanced around, "Shouldn't someone keep watch for Venjix?" He asked as he followed them.

"The Zords will do that," Gem and Gemma said, "They have proximity alarms that will alert us."

"If you say so." Ziggy replied.

"We do," Gem and Gemma replied. They walked through the ruins to a door that opened into a relatively clear staircase. "Doctor K's lab is down here and the discarded projects section as well."

Dr K's lab proved to be mostly a ruin, with high white walls and florescent lighting. "No windows," Ziggy murmured as they looked around.

"This way," Gem and Gemma said, leading them past the lab. They took a flight of stairs deeper into the ruins to a room full of machines and a bank of computers. They headed for a device that reminded Ziggy of a tattoo artist's chair, "This is the prototype to Moneta."

"We just need the files," Dillon began.

"Wait," Ziggy said an idea surfacing. "Gem, Gemma, will you come back to Corinth with us?"

"We would like to see Doctor K."

"I know she'll want to see you," Ziggy replied, "If you're coming, we'll be in the Zords. Do you think we can bring the prototype with us, along with the files?"

"So she won't have to build it from scratch," Dillon said, "Ziggy, you're a genius."

"No I'm not," Ziggy replied, "I'm just resourceful." He looked at the other Rangers, "Well?"

"I don't know if we can get it out of here."

"I can handle that," Ziggy replied firmly.

"Are you sure?" Dillon asked.

"I know I can," Ziggy said. "Chip told me that a lot of Ranger abilities are the case of mind over matter. We believe we can do something, so we can do it. I believe that I can teleport out of here with that thing, so I can do it."

"Then I believe you can to," Dillon said firmly. He buried his doubts as Ziggy reached for his morpher.

"I'll park it outside the Zords, since I don't know the cargo area as well," Ziggy said. "We'll have to carry it inside."

"Ok."

Ziggy morphed and walked over to rest his hand on the prototype. He took a deep breath, "Teleport," he declared firmly and punched the activation button on his morpher. He vanished, with the prototype.

Dillon's morpher beeped, "Ziggy?" He asked.

"That's me," Ziggy said, sounding breathless, "I'm up here, with the prototype. Don't take too long, please."

"Right," Dillon said, he looked at the others, "Where are the files?"

Gem pointed at the computers, "Over there."

Dillon headed over and tried to turn on one of the computers, nothing. "Great," he muttered.

"It probably doesn't have any power. We can fix that."

Dillon stepped back and watched as the pair got to work. He wasn't a technically minded person, although he was good with his car, so he wasn't sure what they did, but they got the computer working faster than he'd expected. Instead of fighting with the computer, Dillon handed over the memory device and Gem downloaded what they were looking for. "Let's go," Dillon said when they were done. "This place gives me the creeps."

They loaded the heavy prototype onto the Falcon Zord, and then took off, with Ziggy and Dillon riding in the belly of the Tiger Zord. They were looking for their refugees when they spotted a group of Grinders fighting civilians. As they watched, two flares of what Gem identified as morphing power resolved into a pair of green rangers. "We have to help them," Ziggy began.

"We are," Gem and Gemma replied, diving towards the battle and firing on the Grinders.

"Drop us off," Dillon ordered, "and cover us. We'll get them going in the right direction." He nodded to Ziggy as he slid the engine cell home.

"RPM Get in Gear," they shouted in unison before freeing themselves from their restraints.

"Cargo open," Gemma stated as the back end of the cargo bay opened.

"We'll meet you in Corinth," Ziggy called before they leapt out.

"I'm not sure I want to explain this to Doc," Dillon muttered as they landed. He turned to the civilians, who were still loading the injured onto vehicles, "Get them out of here," he ordered, the followed Ziggy.

The two green rangers joined them in covering for the civilians, with hurried introductions during a brief respite as they rode on a tractor. "I'm Xander," one Ranger, with a cape said, "He's Joel."

"Ziggy," Ziggy replied, "and Dillon in black."

Further conversation was cut off by Dillon's communicator coming to life, "Ranger Black, Ranger Green!" Dr K said.

"We read you Doc," Dillon said, "Our mission was successful, we're returning to Corinth with a pack of Grinders on our tail, two old friends of yours and a group of refugees. We're going to need back up, those Grinders are bringing friends."

"Rangers Red, Blue, and Yellow will meet you at the outer perimeter," Dr K replied, "what do you mean by old friends."

"That's what they told us," Dillon replied, "they say they knew you at Alphabet Soup. Gem and Gemma?"

"Gem and Gemma?" Dr K repeated, "Ranger Black, are you sure."

"They're wearing RPM Gold and Silver suits and they called themselves Gem and Gemma. They have the prototype, the files, and my car in their Zords." Dillon replied, "Oh look, the Grinders are back. We can debrief later, Doc."

The kid driving the tractor slowed down and the four Rangers jumped off, "Lance," Xander said, "no matter what, you get your butt into Corinth, understand?"

"Dad," the kid said.

"Get in Corinth, Lance, that's an order."

"Yes sir," Lance said, "don't be stupid, Dad. We'll be waiting for you."

"I know," Xander replied. "May the Power protect you."

"You to," the kid, Lance, floored the tractor after the other refugees, not looking back as he went. Xander sighed, and Joel gripped his shoulder, "The kid will be fine, Xander. They'll all be fine."

The four Rangers turned to face the Grinders, and soon were battling hard. "Did you have to start without us?" Scott asked suddenly as he took out one of four Grinders that had targeted Dillon.

"You're late," Dillon grunted, finishing off one of the other Grinders.

"A Ranger is never late," Scott declared, "nor is he early; he always arrives exactly when he means to."

A Grinder suddenly crashed into Scott and Summer appeared beside him, "You'll have to excuse Scott," she said casually, "we were watching The Fellowship of the Ring again."

"Whatever," Dillon replied while Ziggy and Xander both laughed.

"Everyone, this is Xander," Ziggy said, "and Joel." He barreled into a pair of Grinders, axe swinging wildly. Dillon noted, however, that the axe hit exactly where it needed to in order to disable the Grinders. "Xander, Joel, our Red is Scott, Yellow is Summer and Blue is Flynn."

"Xander," Summer said, "You wouldn't be Charlie's Xander, would you?"

"If you mean Chip," Xander replied as he swung his own axe, "then I am."

"He'll be so happy to see you," Summer replied, "I was told he hasn't been the same."

"Joel," Flynn added as he threw a Grinder off the aforementioned Ranger, "Dana's in Corinth too, with your children."

"Except Will," Joel replied, sending a group of Grinders to the ground. "But Will's ok, I know that. I'm glad Dana made it safe."

They quit talking to finish off the Grinders then headed back to the city. The refugees they had protected were being filtered into the city, and Scott gestured, "You two need to get in line to be checked. We scan for hybrids and androids whenever we get knew refugees."

"I understand," Xander said, an odd quality to his voice. "We don't have any, but I understand why you have to check." He powered down to reveal himself as an older man with long, curly hair and an unkempt beard, Joel proved to be an African American man with an equally ragged hair style, but no beard, both of whom wore dirty green shirts.

Suddenly, Gem and Gemma's Zords swooped down to land and the two Rangers disembarked. "Here's the fun part," Dillon muttered as the twins approached.

"These are the other two Rangers we found," Ziggy said, "Gem and Gemma, Series Gold and Series Silver."

"Let's get back to the Garage," Ziggy said, "I'm starving."

Of course, things weren't that easy. Dillon and Ziggy had to be scanned by the Defense people along with Gem and Gemma, with the minor excitement of Dillon's robotic technology. Then they were allowed into the city. There was a triage center set up inside the gate where the injured refugees were being checked over before transportation to the hospital. Dillon and Ziggy paused when they spotted Charlie and Ziggy, after glancing back at the line of refuges, said, "Charlie, there's a couple of people you should check right now."

"I'm a little busy," Charlie said.

Dillon took Charlie's shoulders before he could approach the next refugee and firmly steered him away, "You're going to want to check these two over first," he said firmly.

"I don't have time," Charlie began, then stopped.

Lance and Xander had just cleared the scans and were heading towards them, "Xander," Charlie whispered,  _"Lance?"_

Lance looked up, and his step faltered, "Dad?" He said.

"Lance," Charlie repeated.

"Dad!" Lance cried and broke into a run, all but falling into his father's arms, with Xander half a step behind him.

"You're here," Charlie said, hugging Lance to his side while pulling Xander into his other side.

Dillon pulled Ziggy away, joining Gem and Gemma beside where the twins had parked their Zords. Scott, Flynn, and Summer showed up shortly after them, "We need to get back to the Garage," Scott said.

"Gem, Gemma," Scott said, "you can ride with us, or follow us in your Zords, your choice."

"We'll follow," Gem and Gemma replied.

"Right," Scott replied.

"Where's the Fury?" Flynn asked suddenly.

"In the Falcon Zord," Dillon replied, "along with the prototype for Project Moneta."

"The prototype?" Scott repeated.

"It didn't make sense to just leave it there when we had the means to transport it," Dillon replied.

"It was my idea," Ziggy added.

"I'm sure Doctor K will have it working in no time," Flynn said firmly. "In the meantime, need a lift?"

"Sure," Ziggy said, and Dillon shrugged.

Their arrival at the Garage was almost an exact copy of Charlie's reunion with Xander and Lance, except Dr K didn't need any encouragement to embrace the twins. The look of wonder and joy on Dr K's face tugged at something deep inside Dillon, and to distract himself, he looked over at Ziggy. For a brief moment, Ziggy had an expression Dillon could only call pure jealousy, but when the look was gone swiftly, replaced by a goofy smile, "I'm hungry," he announced, "Dillon, you want a sandwich?"

"Sure," Dillon replied, puzzled by the expression on Ziggy's face as he was by his own reaction to Dr K's reunion.

"I'll want to brief you soon," Dr K said, not quite releasing Gem and Gemma, but now looking at Ziggy, "and to get the files."

"Did better than that," Ziggy said, "Gem and Gemma helped us bring the whole prototype."

"That wasn't necessary, but it will be useful," Dr K replied.

"Here are the files," Dillon said, pulling out the memory device. Dr K accepted it, reluctantly releasing her friends.

"I'll show you where you can stay," Dr K said to Gem and Gemma, "it's this way."

"Ok, Dr K," Gem and Gemma replied.

Dr K's smile was both sweet and goofy as she turned away.


	17. Interlude: Test

Dr K's hands shook a little as she placed the blood sample into the machine. Although she'd never admit it, she was nervous about what would follow. She sealed the sample in with the two other samples and keyed the command to run. Then she turned away, after all, the Croc-Carrier wouldn't finish itself. Still, she couldn't help but think about the test she had chosen to run and its possible implications on relationships in the Garage. She hadn't wanted to consider the test results before, but now, with the test running, it was hard to think of anything else.

Dr K stared at the computer screen, wondering who had programmed it to share the information in such a manner. Blocked letters filled the screen, black on white, with no hint of the emotional storm that they could inspire. The beep that had alerted her to the completion of the test had been innocuous; the TEST COMPLETE message had been routine, but now this. Suddenly, the door to the lab opened with a hiss. Dr K reached out and cleared the screen, looking up as Gem and Gemma came in. The results however were burned into her brain: DNA TEST RESULTS POSITIVE MATCH.


	18. Define Yourself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Episode linked: Ranger Red

Scott regarded the people in the conference room from outside the doorway for a long moment, most of them he recognized from other meetings. There were two new faces however, one, he vaguely recognized from the refugees Dillon and Ziggy had found, the other was Xander Bly. “Quite the crowd.” Scott jerked and found Joel Rawlings smiling at him, “Sorry,” the other man said as he tugged on his black and red jacket.

“That’s ok,” Scott replied. “I’ve been told I need to work on my situational awareness when I’m on the ground.”

“You were Air Force, weren’t you?” Joel asked.

“Yes,” Scott said, he glanced inside again and straightened his shoulders, “Flynn’s dad is cooking tonight, and you’re welcome to drop by if you want. I know things have been crazy but I’ve been trying to get to know all of the Rangers.”

“McAllister, by Xander’s place, right?” Joel asked.

“Right,” Scott said and entered the meeting room.

He found himself seated between Joel and Xander, but before their conversation could continue, Colonel Truman walked into the room. “Good morning,” Colonel Truman said, glancing around the room. “This particular meeting has been called specifically for us to discuss a subject that was tabled five months ago.”

Scott slid a glance at Joel and Xander, both of whom were watching Truman. Then he glanced back at his dad, who was now pacing across the front of the room as he expounding on the survivors in the wasteland. “And finally, I bring this subject up because we now have accurate information as to life outside Corinth.” He turned, “Ava, would you be so kind as to give us a rundown of what you know?”

The refugee stood up, “Of course, Colonel Truman.” She looked around the room, “I’ll be honest with all of you; the people in Corinth do not have a good reputation right now. First, people consider Corinth to be a death trap, the proximity to Venjix’s perceived home base, the constant attacks, and people don’t want to come to Corinth. Especially considering that on the far side of the Rockies, you can go days, if not weeks, without running into a patrol. Most people worry about the androids, but we don’t see many attack bots out there. I only came to Corinth because of my daughter Elizabeth. Corinth has working medical facilities that simply aren’t available out there.” Ava shifted her stance, “Not to mention that Nicole Winter-Thorne, among others, has organized ways for people to leave the continent if they so desire. I say others, but it’s fairly accepted that Nicole was the one who connected the different groups and organized the routes through the Bering Strait to Russia where they connect with Samurais Jayden Finland and Antonio Garcia at the Moscow Dome.”

“Jayden Finland?” Colonel Truman repeated.

Joel coughed lightly, “Jayden was the first Red Samurai Ranger, and the only fully acknowledged Red Samurai,” he said. “Although Jayden is better known for using the Shiba surname, after the Lady Red came into power, he started using his mother’s last name to indicate the distance between his half-sister and himself. The name change was made legal in 2021, when Jayden and Antonio returned from Eltare and in the weeks before Earth was officially quarantined.”

“I don’t understand,” Doctor Kensington, the head of the medical facilities, said, “Why wouldn’t people want to come here? We are safe in Corinth.”

Scott shifted slightly, but didn’t say anything. “As I said, the people out there see Corinth as a death trap,” Ava replied, sitting down. “They don’t want to be so close to Venjix, or locked up where they can’t escape. The damage to the Earth isn’t so bad on the other side of the Great Plains, and there are people working to keep it that way. They don’t see Corinth doing anything but broadcasting their location and attracting Venjix’s attention.” She paused, “Not that people aren’t grateful, but at the same time, they’d really like to see action from Corinth.”

“I’m afraid they’ll be disappointed,” Scott muttered, earning a glare from his father.

“At the moment,” Colonel Truman said, “we will take no action against Venjix outside the defense of this city. As long as the city stands strong, we can out last Venjix.”

“Wait,” Xander interrupted him, “out last Venjix? You think we can…I hate to break it to you mate, but Venjix is a computer. As long as he has power, he’s going to outlast us.”

“That’s not true,” Scott said, thinking of things that he’d overheard from Cam and Dr K during the time travel incident. “Venjix isn’t just a single program on a single hard drive. It’s like the internet piracy that was so prevalent ten years ago, once something is on any sort of network, accessing the network means accessing the information. I’ve seen simulations of what the Venjix base coding could be, and self preservation is one of the few constants. It’s entirely possible that he’s got tons of mini-Venjix programs that we can’t find. Venjix isn’t the sort of enemy we can defeat with enough explosives and a few good men. We have to out think him.” He thought of the arrogant Doctor Stewart, who trumpeted his brains to hide the scars of his ranger days, of Doctor Kendall and Doctor Ashford, who were quietly just as brilliant and Doctor K, scary smart and deeply scarred by Alphabet Soup. He thought of Cam, who should have been safe in Corinth except his dad had needed him, and Marcus. “Corinth is home to the smartest minds America ever produced,” he said finally, “scientists and computer programmers who developed the dome cities, Project Ranger, and were here already working on the next colony project.”

He would have gone on, but the alarms went off and Scott’s morpher sounded. Scott stood, pulling his morpher, “Yeah, Doc?” He asked as he headed out of the room.

“We have a grinder incursion and an attack bot,” Doctor K said promptly. “Ziggy was on an errand and waiting to confront the grinders in McRay Park. Flynn, Summer, and Dillon are tracking the attack bot. Please join Ziggy at the park; there are civilians in close proximity.”

Scott wondered briefly, where the twins were, but only said, “You got it, Doc.”

There were grinders in the park, and Scott and Ziggy were hard pressed to defend a woman and her baby. Then they were after the attack bot, only to be prevented from completing their mission by a rogue croc-carrier zord. Scott had known as soon as they confirmed civilians in the path of the carrier what their choice would be, even as he paused to let Dr K think he was thinking of consequences. Gem and Gemma never showed, proving to Scott that the twins were off on another of their ‘secret missions’, but leaving Scott to face Colonel Truman over the collateral damage and Doctor K for letting the ‘bot escape.

Scott escaped the Colonel by promising a face to face meeting, but found himself pinned down by the doctor and the graphic of a device he never wanted to see again.

_What’s the matter, little brother, you want to live forever?_

Scott shut down the memories and came back to the presence to find Doctor K standing next to him, “Ranger Red, we need this.”

Scott stared at Dr K for a long moment and nodded, “I’ll see what I can do,” he replied softly.

//…//

Colonel Truman stared at Scott, “You want me to give you what?” He asked, catching the attention of the entire command room.

“I need the sensor data from the final air defense of Corinth,” Scott replied firmly, “specifically; I need the location where Eagle 1 went down.”

“Why do you need it?” Colonel Truman asked.

“The Eagle 1 jet was fitted with experimental technology,” Scott replied, “technology that is necessary for the proper control of the croc-carrier. Previous attempts to control the carrier through other methods have proven unsuccessful, as today’s fiasco proves.”

“So you’re just going to waltz out the dome, again, to retrieve it?” Colonel Truman said.

Scott couldn’t help it, “I’m more in favor of the tango sir.” He paused to savor the expression on his dad’s face, “It has a certain panache that the waltz lacks.”

“Scott,” Colonel Truman said sharply.

Scott leaned on his dad’s desk, dropping his voice, “You want the Rangers to distract people while the scientists stop Venjix from spreading? We need the croc-carrier, and the croc-carrier doesn’t work unless we get that flux-thing from Marcus’s plane. This isn’t a power struggle, Colonel Truman; this is a stated need from the head of Project Ranger conveyed by her designated deputy to the military head of Corinth.”

From the look on his face, Scott knew that his dad would not give him the information. He also knew, even if he dad wasn’t aware of it, that the sensor recordings were kept in a location that his Ranger badge could give him access too. “I understand,” Colonel Truman said, Scott waited, “but Scott, why do you have to be the one who goes?”

A hundred responses flashed through his mind, Scott discarded all of them. He straightened, “A great leader once told me, never ask anyone you lead to do something you will not do yourself.” He turned and walked away, keeping his stride measured and even, unwilling to let his dad see how much that brief moment of caring affected him.

Out of the command tower, Scott headed to the records room, flashed his badge to the Sergeant on desk duty, and headed for the flight data recorders. He hasn’t been in the records room since he’d left the defense and the military for Project Ranger, but the best thing about the military was some things never changed, such as the filing system favored by the records department. He found the appropriate information and was accessing it on the computer before his dad even caught up to him, and had already scribbled the coordinates and hidden them before his dad could stop him. Scott watched his dad for a long moment as his dad studied him, “Scott,” Truman said finally, “If Marcus.”

Scott stood, “News flash, sir. I’m not Marcus.” He stepped away from his dad. It was only years of military discipline that kept him from running from his father and the ghost of an older brother he could never compete against.

//…//

Getting out of Corinth unnoticed was as easy as Ziggy and Dillon had made it look, and the dirt bike Scott brought with him made the trip out to Marcus’s plane far easier than Scott had ever expected it to be. It was getting back to Corinth with the flux over thruster in one piece that was the hard part. The Venjix patrol caught up with him a quarter mile from his reentry point, and they wasted no time in destroying his bike. Scott hit the ground and rolled, cradling the bag with the thruster in his arms. He came up facing the grinder patrol and reached into his bag. The first of the grenades Dillon had given him was easy to find and he activated it before dodging the next round of fire from the patrol. He flung the device, and ran for Corinth. His best bet was to get a little bit closer, so he could be sure of his contact with Doctor K.

He reached the top of a final hill and spotted the gate he was going to use for entry. He reached for his morpher as he slid down the hill, but just as his hand reached his pocket, he tripped on something buried in the sand dune and went head long down the hill. He again, somehow, managed to keep from landing on or banging around his bag, but as he started to get up, he knew it didn’t matter. His ankle throbbed with pain, even the smallest movement sent lances into his brain.

Scott knew that if he had a day, the power would take care of his ankle entirely, if he had ten minutes, the undeniably broken ankle would be healed up enough that morphing would support the bone and not shatter it. As the first Grinder topped the hill, Scott knew he didn’t have enough time.

He reached for his morpher to give his coordinates to Dr K when blaster fire filled the air behind him and someone grabbed his shoulder. Scott twisted up to find his dad and a few others firing on the grinders, and David Cooper was kneeling behind me. “I know you hate me,” David said, “but we need to go.”

“Right,” Scott replied and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. “I need five minutes,” he said as David slid under his arm and half carried him to a waiting jeep.

“We’ll get that,” David said after settling him in the back end, “Sir,” he called over his shoulder, “Ranger Red is secure.”

Scott watched as his dad and the other men backed up while David turned the jeep around. Finally, the four men climbed into the jeep and David gunned the engine back to Corinth. Scott flipped out his morpher, “Doctor K, I’ve got the thruster, but we’re coming in hot. I need back up, but I’m sending the thruster.”

“The Rangers are on their way,” Doctor K replied.

They peeled into the city and Scott levered himself out of the jeep. He pulled the bag off and hobbled around to his dad, “Get this to Doctor K,” he said bluntly. “I’ll buy you some time.”

“Scott,” Truman said.

“Stop acting like my father, dammit,” Scott snarled, he pulled out some of the grenades and dropped the bag in his dad’s lap. “You’re a soldier, remember?”

He primed the first device and limped towards the back of the jeep, seeing not only the first of the grinders, but the shadow of the attack bot as well. He heard the jeep take off and threw the grenade. It hit the attack bot and exploded, but the robot kept coming. Scott threw a second one and tested his ankle. Not quite yet, he thought, eyeing the grinders.

“Scott! We’re here!”

Summer’s shout was, quite possibly, the best thing he’d ever heard, “RPM Get in Gear!”


	19. A New Enemy

Dillon dropped the hood on his car with a soft sigh. He liked working on his car; there was a certain satisfaction that came from fixing up the black monster. He touched the hood reflexively as he remembered the man who had taught him how to keep the Fury running. "Hey Dillon," Ziggy called, "Ms. Kim's on the phone for you. She sounds upset."

"Right," Dillon replied and grabbed a rag before heading for the conference room. His mother was on the screen already, "Hello," he said quietly.

"James," Kim said, "Do you know anything about this?" She held up a newspaper article of Tanaya 7, sans face plate.

"That's Tanaya," Dillon said, "Venjix's 'infiltration attack bot'."

"Then who is this," Kim said, holding up a picture.

Dillon's stomach dropped as he stared at the picture of the brunette with white filmed eyes. "Oh," he whispered, "I don't, she, I've seen her, who is she?"

"Rebecca," Kim replied, "after the accident."

"Accident?" Dillon asked as he sat down.

"Rebecca was blinded in the accident that killed your father," Kim said. "James, what's wrong?"

Dillon closed his eyes, struggling to bring his dreams into focus, "I see her, in my dreams." He said pressing his hands into his thighs. He opened his eyes and looked at his mom, "We're in a corridor, wearing white gowns. She, she has a cane. She asks me to hang onto her and I try, but something happens, there are Grinders, and then she's hanging onto the edge of a hole. She asks me to not let go and I try, but she falls. She always falls, and she screams." He hung his head, "I lost her."

"James," Kim said, "whatever happened, it wasn't your fault."

"You don't," Dillon said.

"It wasn't your fault," Kim said firmly.

The alarm went off, "I have to go," Dillon said, "the alarm."

"I understand," Kim said, "I'm headed for the shelter. Take care of yourself."

"I will," Dillon replied before sprinting out of the conference room.  _I hope it's not Tanaya!_  He thought as he ducked through the kitchen to see Ziggy sliding into the passenger side of his car. "Where to?" He called to Scott, also sliding into his car.

"Power plant," Scott replied, "south side. We have to stop it, or it will weaken the shields."

"Of course," Dillon muttered, sliding into his car, "here we go." He peeled out after the others, ignoring Ziggy's yelp in favor of keeping on Scott's tail as they zoomed across the city.

They reached the power plant and Dillon slid out, listening and looking for Grinders, an attack bot, or Tanaya. "Where is it?" Flynn asked.

"Somewhere around here," Scott replied. Dillon shifted closer to the others, noting that Ziggy was doing the same.

Suddenly there was the sound of running feet and they turned. A girl, in ragged jeans, a white t-shirt and ragged tennis shoes skidded around a corner. She had brown, curly hair and seemed familiar although Dillon knew he'd never seen her before. "Jessie," Ziggy breathed, and Dillon grabbed his arm. "What?" Ziggy asked.

"Isn't Jessie dead?" Dillon replied.

"But," Ziggy said, protested, "she. It looks just like her."

"That makes her suspicious," Scott said.

The girl stopped about ten feet from them, "Rangers," she said in a quiet, but cocky manner.

"Who are you?" Scott demanded.

"Didn't Ziggy tell you?" The girl smiled, "You wouldn't believe him though, you don't work that way." She tilted her head a little, "Good thing to. You know, last time you had all those Rangers torn out of time to help you. What are you going to do this time?"

"There are more of us this time," Scott replied as Summer and Flynn stepped back.

"And you think we don't know everything there is to know about you?" The girl replied, "What did you think the attack bots were for? You pour everything into fighting them, and let us learn everything about you."

"Oh I doubt that," Scott said, "you're only the sum of your programming. You lack the one thing that makes human beings unique."

"And what is that?" The girl asked.

"Creativity," Scott replied. "Guys, let's do this."

Dillon let go of Ziggy and reached for his ID tag. "RPM Get In Gear," they shouted together.

"You call that creative?" The girl said.

"No," Scott replied, "that's your warning."

"Here's mine," the girl replied and lifted her hand, "Grinders!"

As far as Grinder battles went, this one was about usual, Dillon though, but he still managed to work his way around to Scott. "Ziggy isn't going to be much help," he muttered as he swung back to back with Scott.

"I know," Scott replied, "We'll just have to make sure they don't end up facing each other."

"You think that will help?" Dillon asked as he knocked a Grinder into three attempting to rush him.

"This time," Scott replied, "and only because we're unprepared." He grunted, but Dillon didn't look, focused on his next target. "I hate androids."

"Thanks," Dillon grunted.

"You are a cyborg," Scott said, "you are human with machine parts."

"So you say," Dillon replied, and let the battle carry him away. He tied in with a pair of Grinders and spun around long enough to see Flynn and Summer closing ranks with Scott. Then Gem kicked a Grinder past Dillon into another Grinder while Gemma covered him and Dillon finished making his way back to Ziggy, who was stumbling through the battle with his usual cross of accident and competence. "You ok?" He asked the other Ranger.

"Great," Ziggy replied, "just great." He grunted as he dodged a Grinder attack, making it look as if he'd tripped over his own feet instead of a smooth dodge. Dillon's back ached in sympathy. It wasn't easy for the agile green ranger to fake incompetence, Dillon had learned, despite how easy he made it look to the others.

"You and me both," Dillon replied dryly.

Suddenly, something that felt a lot like lightning slammed into Dillon, knocking him away from Ziggy and sending him rolling across the ground. Dillon scrambled to his feet to find the android pacing towards him, "So you're the great failed experiment," it said.

"And you're just a pile of scraps," Dillon replied as he took a defensive position. In moments, they were on each other. Dillon found himself using every trick he knew and some he'd forgotten to try to keep up with the android. They went toe to toe for a long moment before Dillon lost his footing and stumbled backwards as she kicked him. He barely managed to stay up right, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he'd just played right into her hands.

Lightning slammed into his back and he threw his head back and gritted his teeth to keep from screaming. Then a second bolt hit his chest and Dillon couldn't help the scream that ripped from his throat, or the one that followed as the lightning poured in. As suddenly as it started, the lightning stopped and Dillon collapsed, eyes closing automatically as his morph broke. Panting, Dillon looked up as the android approached him. Vaguely he heard a familiar, mocking laughter and someone shouting "Tenaya!"

Then the android was standing over him, she pointed, "I thought you'd at least be interesting." She lifted the gun and fired. Dillon threw his hands up in a futile attempt to stop the point blank energy surge and braced himself for pain.

Pain that never came.

Dillon dared to open his eyes and found himself half crouched, half sprawled under a shield that looked almost exactly like his invincibility shield. Except he wasn't morphed, and he hadn't given the audio order to enact the shield. "Dillon!" Ziggy shouted, invisible under the white light of the power poured out by the android, and pulling him out of his sudden contemplation of the unexplainable. He vaguely heard running feet and then the assault on Dillon's shield stopped.

Ziggy, axe in hand, stood over the android, who was staring at him in shock. "Ziggy?" Dillon hissed.

"Tell Venjix 'fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, shame on you," Ziggy said pointedly before turning to Dillon, "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," Dillon began.

Something hit the back of his neck. At first, as he slapped it, he thought it was an insect bite. His fingers, however, found something sticking out of his neck. "Dillon?" Ziggy asked, his voice sounding far away and watery.

Dillon tried to say he was fine even as he pulled whatever it was free. It was a syringe, with only a few traces of whatever had been in it. Pain began building in his neck as he stared at the syringe and Ziggy grabbed his arm. Dillon looked up, seeing two of the androids backing away, watching as Tanaya followed. Then the pain ripped through him and he couldn't help the unearthly howl that poured out of him. For a long moment, the pain in his neck was rivaled only by the screams, howls, and cries that tore through his throat.

Finally, merciful, blessed darkness claimed him and Dillon let it. For once, he didn't try to fight the urge. The release of pain was greater than anything he'd expected and Dillon fell into the darkness with all the grace of a five year old on a diving board for the first time, the only difference being the meeting of self and darkness was the end of great pain, not the cause of it.

/…/

Ziggy gripped Dillon's arm one handed as the dreadful keen finally ended. In the end, he had to put the axe down to grab Dillon with both hands. "A little help here," he called.

"What happened?" Scott asked as Flynn appeared to grab Dillon's other arm. "What made him scream like that?"

Ziggy, noting his axe had vanished, nodded at the syringe by Dillon's knee, "Someone stuck that in his neck. I didn't see how. I wasn't facing him."

Flynn grabbed the syringe and passed it to Scott, "Doctor K will want to examine this," he commented. "We need to get Dillon back to base. Ziggy, you're driving the Fury."

"Ok, wait," Ziggy jerked back from Dillon, "I'm  _what?_  I thought we were past trying to kill me."

"I'm not going to kill you," Scott said.

"You might not," Ziggy replied, "but Dillon will."

Scott growled, but Summer touched his arm. She'd removed her helmet and the wind stirred her blond hair even as she looked at him solemnly, "I'll take care of the Fury, Scott. We can put my bike in the back of Flynn's truck."

Scott hesitated, and then nodded. "Ziggy, Gem, Gemma, help Flynn get Dillon into the truck. Summer, I'll help you load the bike."

Their return to the Garage was filled with an atmosphere of defeat and Ziggy struggled for words to say as he hunched in the passenger seat of the Fury. Summer was a competent driver, Ziggy noticed suddenly, but he didn't say anything, he had enough to think about, like why Venjix had used Jessie's seeming for his latest stunt. For a moment, his mind was invaded by sand, heat and wind, his throat dried and he could hear his stomach growling.

"Ziggy!" Summer all but shouted, shaking his shoulder.

"What?" Ziggy asked as he came out of the memory.

"We're here," Summer said, "you had the strangest look on your face, are you ok?"

"I'm fine," Ziggy replied and opened the door to the Fury, "I just had a lot of stuff on my mind right now."

"Don't we all," Summer said with a smile. "If you really want to keep it that way, I'll let it go."

"Thanks," Ziggy said and headed for the fridge. "Flynn, I'm finishing off your casserole!" He shouted at the blue ranger as the later worked to get Dillon on some sort of wheeled bed. Flynn waved to show he'd heard and Ziggy focused on getting himself something to eat. He figured that between him eating and Dillon's unconsciousness, he had a grace period before someone, Summer, started to push him about Jessie.

"That wasn't her."

Ziggy yelped and turned, "What?" He asked.

"The android, that wasn't Jessie," Scott said firmly. "I don't know why it looked like your twin, but it wasn't."

"I know," Ziggy ground out as he slid the casserole in the microwave. "I was just a little surprised to see the face of my dead twin."

"Ziggy," Scott said.

Ziggy slammed his hands down on the counter, "Scott! Let it be, ok? I'm not going to freak out over a damn android." From the look of shock Scott sent him, Ziggy reflected that it was probably the first time he'd ever sworn around the team leader. "Seriously, Scott, I'm fine. I just want to eat because, you know, Doc K didn't exactly give me time to eat this morning."

He pulled the casserole out of the microwave, transferred it to a plate, and grabbed a fork. "Sorry," Scott said, he gave him an odd look, "Just wanted to make sure you were doing ok."

"I am fine," Ziggy replied, "why wouldn't I be?" As Scott backed off and headed for the Ranger Room, Ziggy sighed softly. One blessing about his distant relationship with Scott, the other man couldn't tell when Ziggy was telling the truth or when he was lying through his teeth. As he took a contemplative bite of his meal, Ziggy couldn't help but wonder if that was a good thing, or a bad thing.


	20. An Unexpected Trial

"Hey Doctor K, I brought you a sandwich."

For Dillon, the sudden voice jerked him from unawareness to an awareness of sound with all the subtlety of a Grinder punch to the gut. He tried to open his eyes, but nothing happened, all he had a sense of was darkness.

"Why did you bring me this, I am not hungry," Dr K replied sharply.

"You didn't eat breakfast, and from the look of things you haven't eaten since then," Ziggy replied, "so I made you a sandwich; ham and cheese."

"I had something to eat," Dr K replied.

"You had candy," Ziggy replied, "which is not in any way to be considered vital nutrients and you know it. This is a ham and cheese sandwich, I even cut the crusts off."

"The crusts?" Dr K replied, as if she just couldn't understand what Ziggy was talking about, again.

"Yeah," Ziggy said, "some people don't like the edges of bread, where it gets harder than the center. I cut them off because I didn't think you'd like it."

"I'm not hungry," Dr K said. To Dillon, she sounded more like a petulant child than she did a somewhat respectable scientist.

"You need to eat something," Ziggy said, "and I'm not saying you have to eat the whole sandwich or half a sandwich, just eat three bites right now."

"What will you do if I don't?" Dr K replied.

"I think I will start with humming," Ziggy replied, "and I'll probably drift to even more ridiculous things, like, I don't know, stealing stuff."

"Ranger Green," Doctor K said, "You wouldn't dare."

"I have before," Ziggy replied.

That was news to Dillon.

"If I do eat your three bites, will you leave?" Doctor K asked.

"Contrary to my usual methods, I'll stick around," Ziggy said. There was a rustling noise, "I brought my sketch book."

 _Sketch book?_  Dillon wondered.

"What I won't be doing," Ziggy continued, "is making noise, stealing your stuff, or otherwise annoying you. I'll be over there in the corner, just sketching. I've got such an attractive model after all."

There was silent for a long moment, "Happy?" Doctor K asked finally.

"Ecstatic," Ziggy replied dryly.

Silence fell and Dillon began trying to move his body again. He couldn't even move his toes for the longest time. He could hear the sound of Doctor K typing and a fainter scratching noise that just might be Ziggy. As Dillon let the sound, his only connection to the outside world, wash over him, he reflected that this was probably the most relaxed he'd been for as long as he could ever remember. It was a nice feeling, and while he did want to move or see something, Dillon didn't feel a burning urge to be a part of everything. It was nice, he thought. He hadn't felt peace like this since he'd been in the wasteland, before he'd called himself Dillon, when he'd just been a stranger helped out by a strange man.

/…/

Gem was worried. He really was. It was just so hard to focus on things. Therefore, he got his crayons out and a piece of paper, falling into what had become habit and pattern. He started with Ziggy, for him, he drew a rose, making sure to draw a thorn for each of the troubles Ziggy had faced. In his mind, the face of the rose was the mysterious Jessie, Ziggy's twin sister. After a moment, he began to draw a rainbow, for the hope that Ziggy must surely feel now, that his sister had been recreated in an attack 'bot. He drew a pot of gold, to symbolize the hope that Ziggy would find his twin alive and well. Gem glanced up at his sister, working on some project of her own, and beyond that was the Trio. Scott was prowling around the Garage, unable to settle. Gem picked up a black crayon and began to draw a unicorn. Summer came out of the kitchen with water bottles; she dropped two off by Gem and Gemma with a smile, and then headed after Scott, who looked grateful, but not surprised, at the bottle she gave him. Finally, Summer headed over to where Flynn had opened the hood of Scott's car and handed him her second to last bottle. She leaned against the car beside Flynn, toying with her own bottle and watching Scott.

Glancing around, Gem didn't immediately see Ziggy, which meant he was with K and Dillon in the Ranger Room. He looked down at his paper, having finished the unicorn; he started to draw rocks and plants, adding a snail to represent Flynn. Gemma nudged his shoulder and looked at the paper. When he looked at her, she had that look in her eyes. The look that said that she understood what he was really drawing with his pictures.

Of course, Gemma understood, she was a product of Alphabet Soup too. She had helped him create their code, a way to keep secrets in the shadow less, white walls and eternal light of Alphabet Soup.

Gem looked at Gemma's picture, reading the code as easy as he listened to Doctor K's music. He pointed at one part of the drawing, "Check your lines," he said softly. Gemma looked back at her picture and saw what he meant about her rocks and nodded.

"Thanks," she said quietly.

Of course, to anyone else, Gemma was drawing rocks, trees, flowers and a puppy. To Gem, it was the schematics for some type of weapon, or improvements on a weapon at the least. It was all in how you looked at it, all the codes that they'd developed, drawings they'd fought over for years before they figured out how to read the same things in each other's drawings.

No one else could understand their code but Doctor K. Just as they were the only ones who really knew, what her music meant. That was what they had needed once.

/…/

Gemma watched her brother as he started a new drawing. He was ok, she could tell. She slid off her stool and headed for Flynn, because she had an idea. "Flynn," she said, "I was thinking about your weapon, the Road Attack Zord."

"Aye?" Flynn asked as Gemma leaned against Scott's car.

"I had some ideas about the power flux problems," Gemma said.

"Let me finish this," Flynn said, "and we'll talk."

"Ok," Gemma said brightly. She headed back to sit beside Gem, swinging back and forth slowly. Her mind flicked through the schematics, remembering the different changes she wanted to suggest. This Zord of Flynn's was brilliant. She knew he called himself just a mechanic, but he was more than that. He was an inventor, and she didn't doubt that his father was just the same way. He just needed a little help from someone who had had these kinds of mechanics jammed into her head from the day she said her first word.

Gemma knew the rest of the team was different, that they hadn't been taught for years about things that most people shouldn't be able to understand. She knew that they didn't understand why she and Gem were the way they were. What they'd done to protect themselves in Alphabet Soup, what they'd done to get out alive, it made them different even if they couldn't say it out loud. They coped, like Doctor K, they coped, and if that scared the others, then they would have to deal with it.

"All right, Gemma," Flynn said, "show me what you're thinking."

Gemma grinned even as she slid off the stool. In the back of her mind, she knew this wasn't going to be the end of all things. "I was thinking about your couplings on the left ventral," she said, "and I think that's where your problem is. Something about them didn't look right and I couldn't figure out what it was."

It didn't take an engineering genius to notice how shocked Flynn was as she talked. Gemma had noticed that she got more eye rolls than understanding looks, it was just a fact. Doctor K had been the same way in the beginning, and look how much she had changed since then. Flynn and the others would learn, it would just take time.

/…/

Dillon was moving. He watched, confused, as his body operated under someone else's control. He was moving, but Dillon wasn't making the decisions. He was a prisoner in his own mind. Dillon fought the control, trying to make anything, even his little finger, move, but nothing happened that he commanded. The person controlling him looked around, and Dillon saw he was alone. As he struggled, Dillon watched as his body moved over to one of the computers and began to type. The words shield protocols appeared and Dillon fought even harder. The door opened, but the controller didn't look. "Dillon?" Ziggy said, "You're awa- what are you doing?"

Dillon's body continued to move against his will. "Ranger Black!" Doctor K said, "I demand you insist.

 _I would, Doc,_  Dillon thought,  _I'm not in control._

"He's doing something to the computers," Ziggy said. "Scott!"

Arms wrapped around Dillon, Ziggy's arms, and he could feel the smaller Ranger trying to pull him away from the computer. "What's happening?" Scott asked, from the sounds of footsteps, he realized that Scott hadn't come alone.

Suddenly, Dillon's body twitched, and his elbow flew back into Ziggy. Ziggy grunted, but didn't let go. Dillon moved again, this time, kicking at Ziggy. "Ow!" Ziggy said.

"Let go," Scott said, "let Flynn try."

"Sure," Ziggy said as Dillon jabbed him again. Ziggy let go of him and Dillon turned as Flynn approached.

"Now Dillon," Flynn said, "just calm down."

Dillon struck, aiming for the Blue Ranger with a punch to the gut. Flynn dodged it, but not easily. Dillon struck out again, but this time, it landed on Flynn's shoulder. He heard some conversation behind him, but Dillon couldn't make sense about it as his body suddenly jerked and went after Ziggy, who was holding his engine cell in his hand. Dillon tackled Ziggy, and he heard the cell clatter to the floor. There was the static noise Dillon associated with Ziggy's teleportation and the world shifted. Green light blinded him and left Dillon and Ziggy on the roof. "I'm so sorry," Ziggy said, his face shadowed by the night time lights on the roof.

Dillon went for Ziggy, throwing a punch that Ziggy blocked. The two of them fought back and forth as if it was a sparring match. For once, Ziggy was not clumsy, or flinching, only meeting every blow with a block or a counter. Dillon had known Ziggy was a good fighter, but this, Ziggy's skills, were beyond what Ziggy had claimed. Green and black lightening traced Ziggy's fist as he landed his first punch.

Dillon felt that punch in his entire body.

"I have to stop you Dillon," Ziggy said, "I am sorry. Doctor K needs time." He grabbed Dillon's arm, ducked around him, and twisted it behind him. Bright lights came on, transforming the roof into a haven of light nearly the same as day light.

Blinding pain lead Dillon to actually moan and he actually  _felt_  his shoulder dislocate. Then his body yanked around, his left arm hanging uselessly. Ziggy danced back, an odd, kind of proud smile on his face as he set himself for Dillon's next movie. Dillon lashed out at him, but Ziggy dodged and avoided him.

Dillon wasn't sure how long he chased the dodging Ziggy across the roof top, one arm disabled, and Ziggy's lighting laced punches slowing him down. All he was certain of was that his friend was displaying a level of skill somewhat beyond what he'd ever hinted to Dillon. If Dillon ever got his body back, he was going to have a long talk with the Green Ranger, that was for certain and for sure.

"Ziggy," Scott said as he, Flynn, and Summer burst onto the roof, "We've got it."

"All right," Ziggy said, "What do I need to do?"

"Just don't get in the way," Scott replied.

Ziggy backed up, "Watch his shoulder, I think it's dislocated."

Quickly, Flynn, Scott, and Summer surrounded him. Scott held what looked like a large hypo-spray, and Flynn and Summer looked determined. They began to move in, and Dillon attacked. The trio worked like a smooth machine, fencing him in and really, Dillon felt some respect. They had been fighting together, alone, for a year before he and Ziggy had shown up. This was the first time he actually realized what that meant in terms of their skill level.

Summer grabbed his good arm and twisted it behind him and Flynn caught his leg when he tried to kick. "Now, Scott!" Summer said.

Something cold, metallic, touched the side of his neck as he struggled, there was a click, then a hissing noise along with a sharp, but brief pain.

Dillon's body went slack and Summer and Flynn almost dropped him as they took on more of his weight. Carefully they eased him down. "Dillon?" Flynn said softly.

Dillon looked up at him for a moment then back down at himself. His hand lifted up and made fists when he told it too and he straightened out his legs. "Dillon," Summer said.

"I'm here," Dillon replied, starting to turn to look at her, then hissed as his dislocated shoulder informed that it was not in good condition. "Ow," he muttered.

"You're back with us then," Scott said, "good."

"What was controlling me?" Dillon asked. "I, I was aware of what was going on, but I couldn't, that wasn't me who was doing all of that."

"Remember the attack with the android?" Scott asked as he crouched down beside him.

"Yes," Dillon said.

"Someone injected you with nanobots. Doctor K scanned them earlier, and was afraid something like this would happen. She developed this," Scott held up a gun like hypo spray, "to counter act them, but it wasn't ready when you went all terminator on us." He rested his hand on Dillon's leg for a moment, "We didn't realize you were aware, or we would have said something to you."

"I was mostly drifting in and out," Dillon replied, "all I could do was hear things around me. Last thing I remember being aware of was Ziggy giving Doc K a sandwich."  _I think he was flirting with her to,_  he thought.

"Speaking of," Flynn said, turning, "are you ok, lad?"

Ziggy had pulled back against the edge of the roof, an odd, pained look on his face. He had one hand pressed to his temple and his eyes were closed. "I don't think so," Ziggy replied.

"Did I hit you?" Dillon asked.

Summer stood and moved passed Dillon, heading for Ziggy, "Are you hurt?" She asked, reaching for him.

"No," Ziggy said, "don't touch me."

"If you're hurt," Summer began, still approaching him.

"No!" Ziggy cried. There was another flash of green and black lightening and Ziggy was gone.


	21. Journey

When Doctor K's communications device woke them up, nobody had left the Ranger Room. After Ziggy had vanished, they'd all rushed down there to see where he'd gone. Doctor K's best guess was that he'd left the city, beyond her ability to actively track his morpher, although it still broadcast his vitals as being 'within the acceptable range'.

"Doctor K?" Ziggy's shaky, tired voice called, waking Scott from where he'd fallen asleep with Flynn and Summer on either side of him.

"Ziggy?" Dillon asked, just before he rolled off the patient's bed where he'd fallen asleep. The crash of him hitting the floor woke up Summer and Flynn.

"Ranger Green," Doctor K said, Scott spotted her settling down at her computer with Gem and Gemma standing behind her like body guards. "Where are you?"

"You don't know? I don't know," Ziggy replied, an edge of panic in his voice, "I think I'm outside the dome, what happened, how did I get here, was it Venjix?"

"Ranger Green," Doctor K said as Scott edged closer, "calm down. What do you remember?"

"Dillon was doing something to the computer," Ziggy replied, "and I had to get him away before he brought the shields down. I remember he tackled me, but I can't remember what happened after. I've been trying, it's just nothing. I woke up here, in a cave, with the sun coming up. My engine cell is missing too."

"I have it," Scott said, "I picked it up after you dropped it last night."

"Scott? Is, is everyone there?" Ziggy asked.

"Yeah," Dillon said as he walked over, rubbing his shoulder. "We're all here, Zig. Don't worry too much; we're going to come get you."

"Ok," Ziggy said.

Scott glanced at the team, and then at Doctor K, "Gem and Gemma should go," he said, catching their attention. "Besides Dillon, they know the wastelands, and they have flying Zords." Scott still wasn't sure how he felt about them having flying Zords, but he was happy with Eagle Zord. He wasn't as big on flying as he'd once been.

"I'm going with them," Dillon announced.

"But your shoulder," Summer protested.

"It's almost healed," Dillon replied, "I won't be in trouble if I morph."

"Quiet," Doctor K snapped, "Scott, the mission is yours to plan."

"Yes ma'am," Scott said, "Dillon, briefing room."

"You can't," Dillon began.

"Now," Scott barked in his best command voice. He kept his face still to hide his surprise when Dillon went. Everyone else followed him out of the Ranger Room, and Scott waited for the door to slid shut, "Dillon," he said before the other Ranger could speak. "If I let you go, I'll be sending over half the team out there while we have two very strong and dangerous androids on the loose. It's an attack waiting to happen and you know that. You and Flynn are our strongest fighters, we need you here."

Dillon gave him the dirtiest look ever, "Ziggy is out there," he began.

"We'll get him back," Summer told him, giving Scott a quick look before approaching Dillon. "Dillon, I know you don't always like us, but can you just trust us, this once?"

Scott turned from Dillon to the twins, "You two are our best shot at this because you have flying Zords and know the wastelands," he said. "You're going to fly out, get Ziggy and come straight back; no detours, ok? This is not the time for you two to free prisoners or blow up a factory. I'm not saying you'll never be asked to do that, but not this time. If you see something like that, note the coordinates and we'll see what can be done later."

"Just pick up Ziggy," Gem said with a nod.

"And bring him back," Gemma finished.

"Thank you," Scott said, "thank you both."

"We like Ziggy," Gem told him.

Whatever Gemma was about to say, it was interrupted as the Ranger Room door opened and Doctor K came out. "Change in plans, Ranger Red."

"Yes ma'am," Scott replied.

"Dillon needs to go with Gem and Gemma," Doctor K continued, "there is a factory very close to where Ziggy is waiting. I know that you are worried about the android, Ranger Red, but we need to know what that factory is building."

"We have almost completed the Road Attack Vehicle," Flynn said, "I know it needs testing, but everything says it will work. If we need it, we can use that."

Scott glanced at Flynn, then to Summer before nodding, "All right," he said.

"Here are the coordinates," Doctor K said, handing the twins a set of disks. "I don't want you to destroy the factory just yet, Gem, Gemma. I want to know what they're building. Dillon can access the computer's mainframe, just from the Venjix hardware already in place in him. Don't go in if it looks like a suicide mission."

"You got it, Doc," Dillon said, "I don't know how you intend for me to access the mainframe, though."

"You already know how," Doctor K said, "you'll understand when you get there, though."

/…/

They left Corinth within the hour, with Dillon riding in Gem's cargo area. Scott had resigned himself to letting Dillon go, and Dillon had kept himself from rubbing in Doc's ability to overrule Scott by a large force of will. Instead, he tried to figure out Doc's cryptic assurance that he would be able to use Venjix's computer systems. That got old within fifteen minutes, leaving Dillon to watch the view screen, currently displaying the wasteland that passed beneath the two Zords.

Ziggy had teleported almost all the way to Omega City, and had done so using his magic, an ability that had clearly unsettled Ziggy as much as it had any of them. Dillon hadn't told anyone about the way Ziggy had used magic in the fight the night before. He figured it was nobody's business unless Ziggy wanted to make it somebody's business. "We're almost there," Gem announced suddenly.

"Right," Dillon said. He sat down and buckled up as the Zord began to land.

When the back hatch began to open, Dillon stood. One thing he'd give Gem, the man might be mentally unstable sometimes, but he was, without a doubt, one hell of a good pilot. Dillon ran down the ramp and spotted Ziggy almost instantly. "Are you ok?" Ziggy asked as he approached.

"Back to normal," Dillon replied.

Ziggy hugged him, a short, tight squeeze that had Dillon freezing in place, "I'm glad. I couldn't remember what happened, and Doctor K said something about your arm."

"It's fine," Dillon said shortly, "where's the factory?"

"Over there," Ziggy pointed, "come on, I'll show you."

They made their way through to the top of a small hill, where a boulder gave them cover to look around. The factory was tucked into the bottom of a cliff, big enough that Dillon estimated it at three stories or better. "I need to get in there," Dillon said, "have you explored any?"

"Some," Ziggy admitted, "this way." They slid back down the hill to where Gem and Gemma waited.

"You wait here," Dillon told them, "we'll radio if we need help, then you come get us, ok?"

"Right," Gem said.

"We'll stay," Gemma added.

Ziggy took Dillon over a different hill and up a steep path to the top of the cliffs. From there, they came around the back side of the factory, where a path led them to the roof. "I haven't gone in," Ziggy said, "I didn't want to get caught."

"Cover me then," Dillon said and headed into the factory.

The entrance to the factory wasn't that different from the Garage roof, it was even unlocked. Dillon let himself in, looking around for an alarm or security device, but nothing came into sigh. He found himself in a short hallway that led to a flight of stairs. A glance behind showed Ziggy following, then Dillon headed for the stairs.

The stairs opened out into a huge hanger with a large air craft inside. "It's build into the rock," Ziggy breathed.

"Computer terminal, Zig," Dillon replied, pointing. The terminal in question was recessed into the wall, accessed by a walkway that started at the stairs. Dillon eased out onto the walkway and over to the terminal, Ziggy close enough behind him, Dillon could hear him breathe.

The terminal was active when they got there, and Dillon touched the screen. Instantly, a warm tingle glided up his fingers and the screen changed. "What do you think that thing is for?" Ziggy asked.

Dillon stared at the screen. He knew what he saw made no sense, but at the same time, he knew. The craft was intended to destroy Corinth, a piece of Venjix's ultimate puzzle. Dillon tried to get information on Venjix's 'ultimate puzzle', but nothing was there. Only a sense that the puzzle was in pieces to prevent anyone but Venjix from seeing the whole picture. Dillon stepped back, "Let's go," he told Ziggy.

They hurried back out the way they came, with Ziggy leading this time. Dillon watched his friend until they were safe on the back side of the hill where Gem and Gemma were supposed to be waiting. "Ziggy," he said, catch Ziggy's arm.

"Yeah, Dillon?" Ziggy asked.

"You really don't remember anything at all?" Dillon asked.

Ziggy's eyes darkened, "Dillon, please," he said quietly. "I can't."

"Why not?" Dillon asked.

"I don't know," Ziggy replied, "I know something happened, and it was bad. I know whenever I think about it, I get scared. I really don't want to think about it now, ok?"

Dillon hesitated a moment, then nodded, "This isn't over," he told his friend. "I don't know what you did last night, but I'm going to figure it out."

"I wish you wouldn't," Ziggy said, "but somehow, I don't think that's going to stop you."

They returned to the Zords, "We need to get back to Corinth," Dillon told the twins, "Venjix is building a giant robot that could destroy the city. We're going to need everybody to stop it."

"Here we go," Gem replied.

"Everybody in," Gemma added.

Dillon and Ziggy strapped themselves into Gem's cargo area, and soon the view screen showed them making all speed for Corinth.

/…/

Scott really didn't like letting half the team leave the city, it tore him up to have them gone where he couldn't' be sure they were safe. "They'll be fine," Summer told him from where she sat at Flynn's bar.

"I know," Scott replied, "I just worry."

"We're all worried," Summer said, "we just have to trust that they'll come back safe."

"I don't know how you do it," Scott told her as he paused in his pacing. "You're so calm."

Summer smiled at him, "Not half as calm as you think. I just have to trust they'll be fine."

"We need to keep ourselves busy," Flynn added as he began to pick through his fruit. "Laundry, dishes, stuff like that still needs to get done."

"Right," Scott replied, "is your laundry together? I'll get that started."

"I'll do the dishes then," Summer said.

They busied themselves with chores, Scott taking over drying the dishes as soon as the laundry was started. "We haven't cleaned the bathrooms this week," Flynn said, "If you'll clean the upstairs one, Scott, I'll take care of the conference room with the downstairs."

"Fine," Scott said. "After I do the dishes."

They could have argued, Scott knew, but the three of them had worked out chores long ago. Adjusting to Dillon, Ziggy, Gem, and Gemma had been harder than simply taking care of everything themselves. It was just easier to follow the old schedule than argue over bathroom cleaning and laundry. Besides, Ziggy picked up doing Dillon's laundry with his, and Dillon could be counted on to do the kitchen on a semi regular basis, so it worked out.

Domestic chores took them through until the alarm went off, "Doc?" Scott called as he came out of the upper bathroom, pulling off his gloves.

"Rangers Silver, Gold, Black, and Green inbound," Doctor K called up, "with company, prepare to go to Zords for back up."

Scott couldn't help the cheer that made its way out of his throat; he tossed the gloves back in the bathroom, grabbed his jacket from the railing, and ran down the stairs to meet up with Flynn and Summer, also grinning brightly. "Read," Scott asked.

"RPM," they shouted, "Get in Gear!"

Then it was Zords and drones, but the shields were in place and the drones dealt with quickly. They met up at the Garage afterwards in a cacophony of sound. Summer was hugging Ziggy while Gem and Gemma talked rapidly over them. Scott hung back, something about Dillon's expression made him hesitant to join the celebration. "Doctor K," Dillon said finally, "you were right about the computers. I could control them."

Doctor K nodded, "What did you find?" She asked.

Dillon took a deep breath, "Venjix is building a doomsday robot, and it's big. Powerful to. If that thing gets off the ground, I'm not sure we have the fire power to stop it." He slid a glance over at Scott, "It's apparently part of Venjix's final plan, but I couldn't get any more information on that. I don't think Venjix lets much get off his main servers."

Doctor K nodded again, "Ranger Red, contact Colonel Truman, we'll need to leave the city for this."

"Yes ma'am," Scott replied with a sharp nod. He slapped Ziggy on the arm, "Glad you're back with us, Ziggy."


	22. Mission Prep

**Ziggy sighed as he stepped into Emily and Mike’s home, the warm yellow and green surroundings eased something in him. “Thanks for letting me come over,” he told Emily.**

 **

“It’s no problem,” Emily replied with a smile, “we all need our family.”

“Speaking of family,” Zoe said as she came out of the kitchen, “Chase is here.”

Ziggy stiffened, because that was all he needed. “I guess, I should say hi,” he managed. Zoe gestured into the kitchen and Ziggy hurried to follow, trying to ignore the sympathy on Emily’s face.

Although he knew he should actually walk in after Zoe, Ziggy found himself hovering in the doorway. It had been a long time since he’d seen Chase and they hadn’t parted on the best of terms. “Ziggy,” Chase said, pulling Ziggy from his musings, “it’s nice to see you.”

“You to,” Ziggy said hesitantly. “I’m glad you’re safe.” 

Chase McKnight was his father’s son, from short brown hair and a runner’s build, to a continuing fondness for the color red. The only difference between them was that Conner had always welcomed Ziggy’s presence. Chase had always looked like he was eating a sour pickle when facing Ziggy.

“Yeah,” Chase said as he leaned against the counter by the kitchen sink, “I heard you joined Project Ranger.”

Ziggy shrugged, “It wasn’t exactly my idea, but yeah.”

“How is being a Ranger not exactly your idea?” Chase asked.

“I had to keep Tenaya from getting the morpher,” Ziggy said. “Dillon was out, the others weren’t there. I had to bond with the morpher to protect it. The catch is the bond’s permanent.” He stopped, “I’m sorry Chase, I didn’t mean to go off like that.” He glanced over at Zoe, hovering anxiously. “I’m just really not doing well right now.”

“What’s going on?” Zoe asked.

“I can’t give details,” Ziggy replied, “but we Rangers have to leave Corinth for a mission. I just wanted to say good bye before I went.”

“Just like that,” Chase said, “bye, I’m off on a secret mission?”

Ziggy rolled his eyes, “No,” he said, “I’m just not having a good week ok? In fact, I’m having a horrible week.”

“You, you’re having a horrible week,” Chase said.

“Yes,” Ziggy snapped back, he blinked. “Look, Venjix has created an android that looks like Jessie. My best friend was temporarily controlled by some Venjix nanobots, I somehow used magic that I didn’t even know I had until a couple of months ago to teleport outside Corinth practically all the way to Omega City and now I’m going on a mission that I’m probably not going to survive. I’d call that a bad week Chase. Not to mention I’m, you know, a Power Ranger, which I never wanted to be. I spend my days getting my butt kicked by Grinders and Tenaya and attack bots, and I screwed up. I’ve got every damn criminal in this City on my ass because I made a choice, a screwed up one, but it was my choice. It’s a choice I will never regret because I did the right thing. I knew making the choice that I’d have every damn criminal in the city after me, but I could take that heat, I was a lot stronger than the other people affected by this.”

“You aren’t the only one who hasn’t had it easy,” Chase told him.

“You think I don’t know that?” Ziggy asked him, voice cracking. “You think I don’t know that there are people out there who don’t have anyone left in their family? I know that, excuse me for being a little selfish about having problems myself.” He turned to Zoe, “I’m sorry, Zoe. I should go.”

“Wait,” Chase said, “this mission you’re on. It’s the one at the factory, right?”

“Maybe,” Ziggy said. “Depends on how you know about it.”

“I’m in the defense force,” Chase replied. “I wasn’t old enough for Project Ranger last year, so I became a soldier. I’m officer track now.”

“Congratulations,” Ziggy replied, “and it’s probably the mission you’re thinking of.”

“You don’t think you’re coming back,” Chase continued.

“No,” Ziggy said, spreading his arms out, “I don’t. There are too many ways this could go wrong.”

Zoe walked over to him and slapped him, “Stop listening to Doctor K, Ziggy,” she told him firmly. “She takes you literally when you ask what can go wrong.” She then hugged him, “You are coming back. After all, Chase has threatened to lock me in my room instead of letting Alex take me to the dance next week. You have to bust me out.”

“Uh, Zoe,” Ziggy said, glancing over at Chase, “don’t take this the wrong way, but I’d probably be helping Chase, not you.”

/.../

Ziggy returned to the Garage just as the others were wrapping up their part of the packing. “Hey, Ziggy,” Summer called, moving away from the back of Flynn’s truck.

“Hey Summer,” Ziggy called back as he parked the scooter on the far side of Flynn’s truck and pulled off his helmet.

Summer gasped, “What happened to your face?”

Ziggy shrugged, “Zoe slapped me. She said I was listening to Doctor K too much; that I’ve become gloomy.” He touched his cheek gingerly, picturing the red hand print that probably adorned it. “I’m ok, Summer. I think she hit me harder than she meant to. She does that sometimes.”

Summer studied him for a moment, her face softened into a look that he’d never seen from her before.  “What happened?” She asked softly.

“Nothing,” Ziggy said, realizing he’d seen a version of that look before. Aunt Kira had gotten it sometimes when she was talking to Dad. He put his helmet on the scooter’s seat. “I’m fine.”

“People only say they’re fine when they’re not,” Summer told him, “what happened, Ziggy?”

Ziggy glanced around the Garage pointedly, Dillon was hovering by his car, darting glances at them, and Flynn was leaning under the hood of Scott’s car, a clean oil filter sitting beside him. Scott, Gem, Gemma, and Dr K weren’t in sight, but that didn’t mean much with the doctor’s security system. “I don’t want to talk about it,” Ziggy said shortly.

Summer blinked, “All right,” she agreed. “We can go up to the garden if you want. I wanted to check the plants before we left.” Ziggy hesitated, about to refuse, when Summer gave him a little smile, “I could use a little help.”

Ziggy sighed, but followed Summer upstairs to their indoor garden. Scott came out of his room as they climbed the stairs, but he just watched them walk away. In the garden, Summer eyed him for a moment, “What?” Ziggy asked.

“I’m sorry,” Summer said, leaning against the door.

“You haven’t done anything,” Ziggy replied.

“That’s the problem,” Summer replied. “I haven’t done anything. I keep thinking I should talk to you, but you always seem to avoid me or something happens.” She brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “I just wanted to tell you that if you ever need to talk, I’m willing to listen. Nothing you tell me will ever be repeated.”

Ziggy stared at her for a long moment, he had known she wasn’t going to back down. He had thought, however, that she’d wait until after her plant related chore had been finished before starting this, at least, “Sorry Summer,” he said finally, “I don’t want to talk about what happened today.”

“Ziggy,” Summer stepped forward, her hand raising towards him, and compassion on her face.

Ziggy made a forceful, negative gesture with his hand, “Don’t,” he told her sharply, “I don’t want to talk about what happened today. I have that right. I don’t have to spill every secret, every thought, and every feeling because you have decided that I need to.”

Summer smiled a little and stepped back again, “All right, Ziggy. I just wanted you to know that if you need it, I’m willing to listen.” Ziggy thought she looked a little surprised at his sudden attitude, but then, Ziggy made a point not to be anything but harmless and incompetent around anyone but Dillon. He wasn’t really sure why, but something told him it was best to keep his talents close to the vest.

Ziggy nodded, “Thanks” He clapped his hands and rubbed them together, looking around the room. “So, how can I help with the plants?”

Summer also glanced around, “I just wanted to see how the new vegetables are doing, really.” She winked at him, seemingly ready to let his momentary anger go, “You don’t have to hang around if you don’t want to.”

“Well,” Ziggy said, “I do need to pack.”

“Right,” Summer said, stepping away from the door.

They slid around each other, careful not to knock over any plants, and Ziggy headed back to his room. 

“That didn’t take long,” Scott commented, leaning against the railing of the walkway near the stairs.

“Yeah, well,” Ziggy said, pausing on his walk. His earlier irritation returning as fast as it had left, “Turns out Summer didn’t need me to help her after all. If you’ll excuse me, I need to pack.”

He started to move past Scott, but the red ranger grabbed his arm, “Ziggy, Summer wasn’t making the offer to be nice or whatever you think.”

Ziggy yanked his arm free, “She’s a yellow, I know. I get that ok. You know my dad, both of my dads in fact, were Rangers, that’s sunk in, hasn’t it? I know what being a Ranger is about. I grew up with the culture, if you would. I probably get it better than any of you except Dillon. James would have gotten it, because he was part of that same culture. Dillon? He doesn’t remember all of it, but some of it he gets.”

“You used to know Dillon?” Scott asked.

“I met Dillon in the wastelands,” Ziggy replied, “I didn’t know he was James. I hadn’t seen him in nearly five years and James was this guy who was older, cooler, who was just biding time for a morpher. He was also one of the ‘young adults’ who always got picked to mind the kids at the Ranger Reunions. We didn’t exactly consider ourselves peers.”

“They’re the same person,” Scott began.

“No,” Ziggy told him, “they really aren’t. I don’t think the Rangers want to upset Kim, so they won’t talk about it, but let me put it this way. I looked up to James, kind of had a crush on him, and he wouldn’t give me the time of day; too busy with Becca and Phoenix and his peers for a kid nearly ten years his junior. Dillon, he’s my best friend. I just hope that when Kim gets James back, I get to keep my best friend.”

That said, Ziggy turned around and walked away.

//...//

Dillon wasn’t exactly surprised to find out Ziggy had known him Before. He’s suspected it, given that his mom and Ziggy’s dad had shared Dr Oliver as a teammate. When Ziggy had started arguing with Scott, after that weird talk with Summer, Dillon had no qualms about eavesdropping on them.

When Ziggy’s door shut, Dillon gave a soft sigh, “Do you think he’s right?” Flynn asked.

Dillon looked up to see the blue ranger watching him, “What does it matter?” he replied gruffly  as he turned and shut the Fury’s trunk. “It’s no big surprise or anything.”

“You knew?” Scott asked from up above.

“Suspected,” Dillon corrected him without looking. “Both of us had parents who worked with Oliver. The bigger surprised would have been that we never met at all.” Now he looked up to give Scott a fierce look, “That’s not going to help with the mission, Truman, so drop it.”

Scott frowned a moment, then nodded once, sharply, and headed back into his room.

Dillon headed for the stairs, because even if he wanted the others to back off, he had a question of his own for the lanky green ranger. Knocking on Ziggy’s door was new. Usually, Ziggy kept the door open when he was in there, unless he was sleeping. Ziggy claimed that it was because he wanted people to feel free to make sure he wasn’t pulling pranks. Dillon thought he just liked knowing he wasn’t alone.

“What?” Ziggy snapped, yanking the door open. “Oh,” he said, his irritated scowl fading into an embarrassed smile, “sorry.” Ziggy stepped back, “you want to come in?”

“Sure,” Dillon said and stepped inside.

“I guess you overhead me talking?” Ziggy said as he shut the door again.

“It wasn’t that hard,” Dillon replied, glancing around Ziggy’s room. The room wasn’t much different from his, layout wise. They’d both relocated their second beds and dressers into a storage building on the base. Dillon used the spare room for bookshelves and a large chair. Ziggy had acquired an easel and drafting table, and then had proceeded to cover the green walls with drawings and paintings. There was always something new. Today, Dillon noticed a drawing of a girl. “Haven’t see that one before,” he commented, indicating the portrait.

“Yeah,” Ziggy said, “I just don’t want to forget, since there aren’t many pictures left.”

“Who is she?” Dillon asked, still staring at the drawing, trying to remember something. He thought there was something familiar in the girl’s Asian features and red streaked hair.

“Phoenix Chan,” Ziggy replied, “her mom was Cassie Chan, Pink Astro Ranger, and her dad was called the Phantom Ranger. They died a long time ago, and Phoenix was raised by Cassie’s teammates TJ and Carlos. She was supposed to take up the Red Astro Morpher when she was twenty-one, but I don’t know if that actually happened.”

Dillon glanced over at Ziggy, who was looking sadly at an older drawing of his parents. “How do you remember all of this?” Dillon asked, his struggle to remember pushed aside by the new topic.

“I have an exceptional memory,” Ziggy replied, “and I’ve been asking. I remember people, but I don’t know who they were, so I ask. Then I write it down, so I’ll remember.”

“Listen,” Dillon said, “you know I’m not good with feelings, or people, but you’ve been acting different since you got back. Are you sure you’re ok?”

Ziggy stared at the artwork for a long moment, “I don’t know.” He said finally. “I feel like something is wrong, but I don’t know what. I’m not psychic and I’m certainly not Purple much less Silver, so it’s not a precog.”

“One in three,” Dillon told him bluntly, reminding Ziggy that he, Dillon, didn’t understand about Rangers and understood about one in three words.

“Sorry,” Ziggy said, “certain Ranger colors are known for having abilities, psychic abilities. Mind reading, knowing things about the past or future; I don’t know how to explain. The important thing is, I don’t. I have magic, yes, but I’m not psychic.”

“Then what makes you think something is wrong?” Dillon asked.

“It’s like I saw something,” Ziggy replied, “but I can’t remember what it was. I’ve been trying to remember because it seems important and I’m frustrated because I can’t remember.”

“I don’t know what I can do to help you remember,” Dillon said after a moment, “but you need to be a little more careful until you do. You know as well as I do how the trio can be when they think someone needs help.”

Ziggy’s nose wrinkled at the thought of their Red, Blue, and Yellow teammates, “You’re right,” he said. “I’ll be more careful.”

Someone rapped briskly on the door, startling them. “Ziggy, Dillon,” Flynn called, “Dad’s cooking dinner if you want it. We’re about to head out.”

Dillon looked at Ziggy, who nodded slowly, “We’ll be right behind you guys,” Dillon called as Ziggy grabbed his jacket from the bed and slid it on. “You better?”

Ziggy shrugged, not quite meeting Dillon’s eyes, “Soon.”

Dillon thought it must have been a trick of the light that made Ziggy’s dark brown eyes appear black as he turned away.

**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks walkingonrain, for the beta! You rule!


	23. The Mission Part One

Scott watched the gate open to let them out of the city with a little smile, "You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Summer asked, looking back at him.

"I'm enjoying how easy it was to get the Colonel to do this," Scott corrected her as he toyed with his seatbelt. "Remember when I had to get that flux overthruster and I had to practically steal the information?" Summer nodded with a faint smile, "Or how many times did we turn around and find out he'd snuck up on us again, how I'm not allowed to answer the vid phone because he didn't like how I answered it? The Colonel does not like Project Ranger on a good day."

"Remember what Dustin told him," Flynn remarked, glancing at Scott in the rear view mirror, "I think your dad is figuring out how to get his head on straight."

"If you say so," Scott replied. He really didn't expect much of his dad anymore. Maybe when he didn't have to invoke Marcus to get his dad to do something, or let him do something, they would be able to build a better father son relationship. Scott was not afraid to admit that he wasn't holding his breath on that subject.

Scott watched through the windshield as Dillon pulled in front of them, heading across the wasteland like he was trying to win something. Scott thought the other ranger was probably still upset because of the fight earlier about how they would all make the drive. That Scott had caved once Dillon had explained why they wanted the fewest vehicles on their journey had not seem to mollify the prickly black ranger.

Scott mentally acknowledged that he hadn't been eager to admit Dillon was right, but when Dillon had explained his seemingly arbitrary statement that it would be best if Flynn would drive Scott and Summer while Dillon took Ziggy, Gem, and Gemma. Scott had thought the twins would have preferred their Zords, but they had also agreed with Dillon when the matter was brought up.

"Still mad at Dillon?" Flynn asked suddenly.

"What?" Scott said, startled out of his thoughts.

"You seemed to be staring at Dillon's car rather fiercely," Flynn said easily, "and Summer was trying to talk to you."

"I'm sorry," Scott told Summer, reaching up to touch her shoulder. "I was thinking about last night, yeah, but I'm not mad about it. Once Dillon explained his thinking to me, I kind of felt stupid about fighting over it."

"It's alright," Summer told him, "I was just asking if you were comfortable back there."

"I'm fine," Scott said, "I have plenty of space, good company, and we've always been good at entertaining ourselves."

"No water guns," Summer replied promptly.

"No alcohol," Flynn countered.

"But good friends," Scott finished. "We actually haven't been hanging out much lately."

They hadn't, actually, between the arrival of first Dillon and Ziggy, then Gem and Gemma, the dynamics of the Garage had been thrown out of whack. Summer had bonded with Doctor K on some level while trying to figure out Dillon, and Flynn had figured out that Gemma was as much a mechanics nut as he was. They had been working on different projects for weeks, with Gem alternately working with them, or with Doctor K. Scott himself had been up in the tower a lot lately, trying to get his dad to relax his chokehold on resources the Rangers could use.

"We haven't," Summer agreed, again ripping Scott from his thoughts. "The team's gotten bigger." She sounded almost sad.

"When we get back," Scott decided, "we'll have a movie night, just the three of us. We'll complain about our bruises and watch something with way too many explosions."

"Maybe we can even have a couple of beers." Flynn offered.

"Just don't expect me to reign you two in if you decide to jump the jeep again," Summer told them, "I'll just go hide in the lab with Doctor K and eat popcorn."

"That's what you did the first time," Flynn commented, "Where is that man going? We're driving in circles!"

"Are you sure?" Scott asked, "It all looks the same to me."

"The sun was on our left, and now it's come around to our right, in less than an hour," Flynn said.

Scott pulled out his morpher, "I'll ask." He buzzed Ziggy's morpher, knowing that Dillon would hear it. "Hello?" Ziggy asked.

"Ziggy, Scott," Scott said, "Flynn wants to know what Dillon is doing, he says we're driving in circles."

"We're following the same route we used last time," Dillon said. There was a scuffle, as if Dillon had reached over and pulled Ziggy's arm closer, and his voice became clearer. "We have to take a longer route to get around a prison camp. Gem and Gemma marked it on the map, but we don't have time to risk the patrols, so, we're going around."

"Right, thanks," Scott told him and hung up. "We're detouring around a prison camp," he said to Flynn, leaning forward a bit. "Avoiding the patrols and such. We'll come back and blow it up later."

"The scenic route then," Summer commented, "Nice of him to have mentioned it to us before we left."

"I'll mention it to him," Scott replied, "or you could do it yourself."

Summer twisted in her seat to frown at him, "Are you ok, Scott?"

Scott sighed, "I'm fine, Summer. I'm just being nostalgic for before."

"I," Flynn commented, "think you're jealous. We have new people to talk to, and you spend more time with your dad that you have did before."

"That's ok," Scott told him, trying not to let them see the lie in his words, "I don't mind."

"But you are jealous," Summer countered thoughtfully. "Maybe we have been ignoring each other lately. It's just, Dillon, and Doc K too, they're hurting so badly and I want to help them. Doctor K's doing so much better since Gem and Gemma came back, but something's still wrong. Dillon, well, he's trying so hard to be James for Kim, it kills him when he disappoints her." She glared when Flynn snorted. "Sometimes Dillon reacts to something and Kim just, she looks so hurt for a moment, it's like, most of the time all Kim can see is James, until Dillon does something differently, then she remembers that he's Dillon and not James. Every time it hurts her, it devastated Dillon. That's his mom, and he does care for her. I'd probably even say he loves her, and he disappoints her. I'm trying to help him deal with that, and with his sister, but Dillon's stubborn about it."

"Dillon, stubborn?" Scott said sarcastically, "I never would have guessed."

"Don't be a jerk," Summer told him. "Besides, Dillon's an open book compared to Ziggy."

"I think that's a little backwards," Flynn said, "everything Ziggy feels is on his face."

"It's a good mask," Summer replied, "but it's a mask. Doc K and I caught Ziggy training in the practice room a few weeks ago in the middle of the night. He was working with the tennis balls of doom program." Scott chuckled a little at the mention of the agility program that involved tennis balls ejected from a machine at random angles.

"Ziggy turned off the score tracker," Summer continued, "but K turned it back on. You both know that Ziggy's always tested subpar in the training room, but that his scores have been improving. In the training room that night, Ziggy's scores charted up with yours, Scott."

Scott whistled, he knew he'd been holding onto his high scores only by dint of much practice. He's started using the program before he'd joined Project Ranger, mostly as competition with Marcus.

"Here's the scariest part," Summer told them. "After it was over, we realized that Ziggy had been sleepwalking through the whole thing."

"Sweet mother molasses," Flynn said quietly.

Scott let the silence stretch for a long moment, then he coughed, "Kim gave me some new movies last time she came by. Maybe we can watch them when we get back, yeah?"

"What movies?" Summer asked.

"Comic book movies," Scott replied, "some of the old ones that came out when we were kids. Thor, Avengers, Captain America. Kim has the entire universe, and she loaned it to me."

"I haven't seen those movies in years," Flynn said, "I used to love watching them. I always wanted to be Tony Stark."

"I wanted to be Pepper," Summer said, "a long time ago. She was, she was real."

Scott smiled a little, "I always wanted to be Coulson, or Hawkeye. I never could decide."

"I would have thought you'd want to be Thor, or Iron Man, because they could fly," Flynn admitted.

Scott squirmed a little. "I'm really not as into flying as my dad wants me to be." He spoke softly, "I wanted to be just like him, but I really don't care about flying all that much." He let the quiet again fill the truck for a moment. "Anyways, I've been thinking about what we need to be doing against Venjix."

"I thought we were supposed to defend the city." Flynn didn't turn around, but Scott could hear the confusion and hope in his voice. Flynn always did like the idea of being a hero.

"We are," Scott agreed, "but I don't see why we couldn't do more."

"Like what?" Summer asked.

"Like deal with those prison camps," Scott said. "I'm not saying that we should do all the work, but I think we should convince Dad that having camps so close to the city is a bad thing and we should do something about it."

There was silence for a moment, and Scott wondered if he had gone to far. "I agree." Flynn said, looking into the rearview mirror for a moment.

"We'll back you when you talk to Colonel Truman," Summer offered.

Scott smiled, because it was always good when his friends backed him up.

/..\\\

They had to stop for the night at the cave Ziggy had woke up in after his abrupt departure from Corinth during the Dillon fiasco. All of them agreed it was better to sleep and attack at dawn. The cave was deep enough to drive the cars into and still had room in the back for them to set up camp. "I brought the stuff," Ziggy announced once the fire was going, "We can make s'mores later."

"What are s'mores?" Dillon asked, looking up from where he had been struggling with the gas fed grill.

"The one food everyone loves," Scott told him easily as he struggled with a cot. "Don't worry, Dillon. Roasting marshmallows is the easiest thing in the world."

Of course, easy turned out to be a relative term, and Dillon turned out to have a liking for setting marshmallows on fire.

Gem and Gemma, on the other hand, actually managed to not run around with flaming marshmallows. Scott had been worried that the pair would have gotten over excited at the idea, but they were subdued.

"Are you two ok?" Summer asked, looking over at Gem and Gemma.

"We're fine," Gem said.

"Just tired," Gemma added.

"Ok," Summer replied, "if you two want to go ahead and go to bed, you can."

"We all probably shouldn't stay up too late," Scott told them all, glancing around the fire. "We don't know what to expect when we get in there tomorrow."

"I'm going to keep watch," Dillon announced.

"Not all night," Scott replied, "I got some sleep in the truck on the way up. You wake me up when you feel tired, so you can get some sleep as well."

Dillon stared at Scott for a long moment, then got up and stalked away, past the cars to the cave mouth. Gem and Gemma also stood and headed back to the cots they had put up for themselves.

"Did something happen in the car?" Summer asked Ziggy.

"No," Ziggy said, "I mean, Doc had a long talk with the twins before we left and they were really quiet. They just kept drinking their water and staring out the window. It was weird, like they weren't even there."

The trio exchanged looks, "All right," Scott stood up, "go to bed, Ziggy. Try to sleep, hey? We need to be ready to go at first light."

"Sir yes sir," Ziggy replied, also standing up and heading to where he had set up his cot. Dillon had insisted that he would sleep in the Fury, but Ziggy had put a cot for his friend as well.

Scott watched the green ranger for a moment, wondering why their teammate had changed so much, and why he seemed so much like he was before at the same time. "Come on Scott," Summer said, linking her arm with his, "I know you snored all afternoon, but we didn't get that chance."

"I do not snore," Scott muttered as they lay down on their cots.

"Actually," Flynn said softly from his place on the far side of Summer, "You do sometimes. When you sleep in an odd position. Not when you're laying down, but when you sleep sitting up mostly."

"Good to know," Scott said. He hesitated, sitting up a bit to look at his partners, "I love you guys," he smiled, "Sweet dreams."

Flynn hesitated, then smiled, "I love you both."

"Boys," Summer said fondly, "I love you. Now, let's try not to fall out of bed in the morning, hey? These rocks are probably a lot more unforgiving than my floor has been in the past."


	24. The Mission Part Two

They were up with the sun, Scott glaring at Dillon before he’d even made it off his cot. “What?” Dillon asked, and if he was faking innocence, then Scott had to admit it was the best fake out he’d ever seen.

“Thanks for waking me up,” Scott said.

“The twins were up,” Dillon replied, unconcerned. “It didn’t seem necessary to get you up as well. They took the shift.”

Ziggy handed Scott a cup of steaming liquid, “I was up at five, and took over. If nothing else, I would have died screaming.”

“Besides,” Dillon added, “you’re leading this shindig, you need the rest.”

“Shut up,” Flynn said before Scott could say something.

“Drink your bad coffee,” Summer added.

Scott took a sip, “It’s not that bad.”

“Really?” Flynn asked after trying his own cup, “It’s like motor oil.”

“Clearly you’ve never had my dad’s coffee,” Scott said blandly.

“If it’s worse, then I don’t want to,” Flynn countered.

MRE packages were handed around and opened. Scott ate his quickly, noting that Gem and Gemma were following suit. The others, however, were distinctly less pleased with the offered meals although they did all eat.

Afterwards, Scott glanced around, “All right, we need to stop that bot. Gem, Gemma; you have the kill switch, right?”

Gem held up his wrist to show the band attached to the kill switch.

“Dillon, Ziggy,” Scott continued, “You’ll go back to that terminal.”

“No!” Gemma yelped. As everyone stared at her, she seemed to pull back against Gem.

“What?” Scott asked.

“Gemma,” Ziggy said, sounding thoughtful, “did you dream something?”

As Gem wrapped an arm around her shoulder, Gemma nodded.

“Shit.”

“What?” Scott asked. The Green Ranger was frowning at Gemma as if the Silver Ranger had done something horrible to his sketch pad or something.

Ziggy switched to looking at Scott, “Nobody’s talked to you about Silver Rangers, have they?”

“No,” Scott said, glancing at Summer and Flynn, who also shook their heads.

“No,” Gem said.

“What about them?” Gemma asked as she leaned into Gem.

Ziggy sighed, normally mobile face still and serious, “Short version; Silver Rangers have the ability to have prophetic dreams. There are two kinds, the recurring dream, and the one time dream. Gemma, have you had this dream before?”

“Not this one,” Gemma replied, looking nervously at Gem.

“Ok, then it’s a one time dream, which means that it’s a warning. We need to be prepared for what happens.” Ziggy nodded to himself, “I take it this is about me and Dillon on the catwalk?”

“You die,” Gemma said, quiet and sad, “the Grinders take Dillon away.”

“It’s an ambush,” Gem said as he held his sister as she turned her face into his shoulder.

“We can do something about that.” Ziggy turned to Dillon. “I know you’ll need to concentrate.”

“You’re going to walk into an ambush?” Flynn protested.

“Traps often work because of surprise,” Scott heard himself say. “If Ziggy and Dillon are prepared for the attack, they’ll be better able to meet it. We don’t know if there is any other terminal in the building, much less one that Dillon can access.”

“You’re going along with this?” Summer asked.

“Dillon needs to access that terminal,” Scott replied, “he trusts Ziggy to watch his back. The three of us work best together, and Gem and Gemma are the same way. Any switching we do, we’ll lose our best chance at winning this. We have to present a strong face to this. We only get one shot at this, guys and you know it. We have to trust each other to do the jobs we’ve been assigned. We are the Power Rangers and we’re not going to lose.”

Ziggy hesitated then held out his hand, looking at each of them solemnly. Gem and Gemma reached out, then Dillon. Flynn and Summer were nearly as in synch as Gem and Gemma and Scott rested his hand on top. Something in Scott stirred, a flicker of Red Power slid through him, telling him what he was supposed to do. From the looks the others gave him, they felt it too. “Power Rangers!”

///…\\\

To be a distraction, Scott knew, they had to get the attention of everyone. People needed to see the bright Red, Blue, and Yellow, not the elusive Black with his Green shadow, or nearly invisible Gold and Silver.

Morphed, Scott glanced at his partners, “Let’s go knock on the door.”

“You first,” Summer replied, tilting her head back to regard the massive, three story doors.

“Actually, I thought Flynn would like to have the honors,” Scott replied, “He’s got the big gun after all.”

Flynn regarded him for a moment and then laughed, “I’ll do it.” He produced the Turbo Canon and opened fire on the doors, knocking one of them loose. “Knock, knock,” he shouted.

A flood of Grinders came out of the broken door even as the other began to grind open slowly. Scott lifted the Street Saber and couldn’t fight the grin that broke out when Summer’s Zip Charger went shooting past him to hit the Grinders. “Look who came for supper,” he said and launched a Burst Attack.

The fight was like any other Grinder fight the trio had faced over their career, and Scott fell into the familiar strike, block, and dodge pattern without a thought. As he did so, his Power awareness rose up a little.

First, and always first, were Flynn and Summer. He could feel them with just a thought when they were morphed, and there were moments when he would look and know, know when Flynn was thinking of Jaycee, and when he was just thinking over some new idea for him and Gemma to test out. He knew Summer’s thoughts when she casually sank balls on a pool table, and how it different from when she was trying to understand one of her difficult, and male teammates.

Next in his awareness were Gem and Gemma, Gold and Silver like a fall of glitter. They were linked to each other in ways Scott could only dimly sense, but the strength of those links left him feeling awed at times. He wondered who their parents had been, to give the siblings that bond to each other. He suspected Ziggy had a guess, as had Doctor Oliver and some of the other, older Rangers. The twins had ignored the one time Summer had mentioned it, and Doctor K had said that such a search would have to wait until after Venjix defeated.

Scott moved to help Summer with a trio of persistent Grinders. A flash of green in the corner of his eye made Scott think of the pair he couldn’t fully sense.

Ziggy and Dillon had gone in unmorphed, both of them citing reasons to be in civilian form, daring the others to deny their logic. They were vulnerable, but Scott trusted them.

He took out a Grinder sneaking up on Flynn.

Scott trusted the reluctant Black Ranger and unexpected Green Ranger. It shouldn’t have been a surprise, but it was. As he fired on a group of Grinders, Scott reflected that the pair had a way of growing on a person.

Dillon, who sometimes showed flashes of his past, usually around his mother; Scott wasn’t sure what to think of those flashes of James Hart. There was something childlike there, softer than Dillon’s normal attitude. Sarcasm was still there, but it wasn’t as harsh in James as it was in Dillon. One thing was clear in both, however. Dillon or James Hart, he had been born to wear Black.

Ziggy, the enigmatic Green Ranger, was even odder. He seemed so open. His heart was on his sleeve and he seemed incapable of lying successfully. Ziggy, who had worked for the mob for years; Ziggy, who had stayed alive despite his seeming incompetence; Ziggy, who had been born to one Ranger and raised by another, who had probably been in training from the time he could walk but still consistently setting records for lowest training scores ever.

As they created the Road Blaster to deal with a large cluster of Grinders, Scott hoped that his teammates would come out of everything all right.

///…\\\

Gemma glanced behind her cautiously as she followed her brother down their chosen hallway. They’d parted with Ziggy and Dillon at the console Dillon was to access. Dillon had been already sinking into the facility’s complicated computer system, but Ziggy had watched them leave, looking forlorn and far younger than nineteen in his leather jacket.

She put the memory of the disturbing dream away from her and focused on their back trail. Gem would get them to the doombot; it was her job to make sure they were not tracked and ambushed. It was a system they’d worked out since escaping the Soup, usually, it was to steal supplies or blow up a factory. Not that they always had to steal supplies, there was the Western Rebel Movement, of course, founded and ran by Rangers who had been happy to see two secured Zords whenever the twins headed out that way.

A hand brushed her arm and Gemma glanced up, Gem pointed towards the front of the facility just as a loud explosion shuddered through the facility. Gemma flashed him a thumbs up and glanced behind her again. Something didn’t feel right.

They slipped down the corridor, pausing at another doorway.

“There are RANGERS in the factory,” a mechanical voice bellowed.

“Yes Master Venjix,” a second, more ubiquitous mechanical voice replied.

The twins went very still and stared at each other.

“Will you join the fight, Master Venjix?”

“This body is not prepared for war, Professor Cog,” Venjix growled, “and there is not a suitable body here for that battle.”

“What should I do, Master, do you want me to fight?”

The twins reached out, grasping hands as they waited for the answer. Gem’s hand vibrated with the tension he felt, and Gemma stroked his palm with her thumb, soothing him the best way she knew how.

“Not yet, Professor Cog,” Venjix replied. “It is not yet time for them to see what you can do. Use the emergency escape route and fall back to the secondary site. I will send the command codes to activate it. We will begin manufacturing a body fit for war as soon as we can.”

“At once,” Professor Cog replied.

“Move swiftly, Professor Cog,” Venjix replied, “I will activate the self destruct before I return to the Palace. We will engage the Rangers another time.”

The twins glanced at each other and sprinted down the hallway to a cross corridor where they could get out of sight. Gemma glanced around the corner, but the door they’d listened to never opened. “Now what?” She asked Gem.

“We finish the job,” Gem replied, “and we’ll report to Doctor K and Ranger Red in the debriefing.”

Gemma nodded and followed her brother down the hallway.

Back in The Soup, Gem and Gemma had been ruthlessly trained for their morphers, driven by people who brooked no weakness, accepted no failure. It had created a schism in their minds, a schism that they both knew about, and both dealt with in their own way. Gem reacted by being aggressively protective of Gemma, and later Doctor K, forcing the fractures in his psych to their breaking points to ensure that he protected the people who mattered the most to him. Gemma focused more in her mind, grasping the engineering and technological aspects of her job with both hands.

Ziggy had once asked them why they were so happy, given Doctor K’s pessimistic attitude, and Gem and Gemma didn’t know how to explain it to him. They had been raised by a pair of caretakers before their training began. One of them had always told the twins to smile and be cheerful, even in a place as depressingly dull as The Soup. They had smiled for her, the closest thing to a mother either of them would ever know. The other caretaker, a man, had been their teacher, introducing them to the basics of an education in a strict fashion that both twins would later recall as being soft compared to their later trainers.

Gemma vaguely remembered other children in The Soup in that time before training. Not often, but she’d seen them once or twice. After training began, and they took Gem away for his training, she never saw them.

Gem touched her arm and Gemma blinked, surprised to find they’d made it to the hanger where the doombot was stored. She nodded to her brother and they began to make their way to the doombot.

Suddenly, a bright light filled the top of the hanger, polarizing Gemma’s visor, and she heard Dillon shout, “Ziggy!”

The twins froze, then dashed for the doombot. They had just reached the opened hatch when Grinders began to flood out of the back of the factory. The twins glanced at each other and ducked into the doombot, hoping they hadn’t been spotted. A fight now would be very bad.

“Dillon, Ziggy,” Scott said over the radio suddenly, “Check in?”

“We’re ok,” Dillon replied, sounding shaken.

“The Grinders showed up,” Ziggy added, sounding winded. “I blasted them and we morphed. I may have overdone it though.”

“I got what we came for,” Dillon added, “We’re going back out.”

“Right,” Scott replied.

“Any word?” Ziggy asked suddenly.

“Not yet,” Scott replied.

Gemma realized that they were referring to her and Gem, who would maintain silence on the comms until they got the doombot reprogrammed. Gem jerked his head towards the corridor beyond the hatch and Gemma nodded. The pair hurried down the corridor, past narrow maintenance hatches and a few side corridors. Then they encountered a wider, taller pathway. Gem went still and glanced both ways then pointed to the right. Gemma followed him, glancing to the left. A pair of Grinders was racing away as if their tails were on fire.

The twins soon came to a large room with several computer banks, like some sort of control room. Gem pulled out the kill switch and stepped up to the largest array while Gemma pulled her laser and glanced down the hall.

“Yes,” Gem hissed suddenly, a sound almost overridden by the clanking of Grinders approaching. Gemma tensed and stared down the corridor.

A pair of grinders appeared out of a side hallway and one of them spotted her. They advanced and Gemma lifted her laser, firing twice. She paused, fired a third time, and then nodded as they fell. She also made a note to check out Doctor K’s firing range, her aim was a bit off.

“Activating kill switch,” Gem announced over the comms, “Recommend all Rangers retreat from the factory.”

“Why?” Scott demanded.

“Because, we overheard a transmission between Venjix and another Bot,” Gemma said.

“They’ve set a self destruct.”

“You need to get out of there,” Scott said.

“No time,” Gem replied.

Gemma glanced over her shoulder and saw a counter running down a screen across the room. “We’d never make the doors before it goes.” She said.

“We’ll be safe here,” Gem added, “the doombot’s hull will keep us safe.”

“Until you can dig us out,” Gemma finished.

“Gem, Gemma,” Scott began.

The doombot shook, as if it was the epicenter of an earthquake. “Gem, Gemma,” Doctor K said, “if you are hearing this, then my program was successful.”

Gemma turned to stare, as an image of Doctor K regarded them from the screen, replacing the counter. “Doctor K?” Gem asked.

“It was pointed out to me that destroying this bot would be a waste of resources,” Doctor K continued, “given that we no longer have access to the materials to create Zords in Corinth. The bot is currently being reprogrammed and reshaped into a new Zord to combine with your own Zords. I placed the new Engine Cells in your subspace pockets when you left, so when the bot has become the new Whale Zord you will be able to control it. This will take five minutes once this message ends.”

Gemma laughed out loud, because of course Doctor K would be able to get into their subspace pockets. Gem also laughed even as he produced a blue and gold engine cell.

Back at The Soup, Doctor K had worked out the equations for subspace pockets, but the technique had never worked for everyone. Gem and Gemma had been able to use the pockets immediately, storing everything they deemed most important there. Doctor K had taken her research a little further secretly and discovered a way to access pockets controlled by someone else. This wouldn’t be the first time she’d given them something secret that way.

 


	25. The Mission Part Three: The Side Trip

Dillon watched the factory implode with horror, Ziggy clutching his arm in a vise like grip. "No," Summer said.

"Ziggy," Flynn began.

"I can't," Ziggy replied, releasing Dillon, "I have to know where I'm going."

"Then let's start digging," Scott said, "They were in that doom bot, they may be all right."

Dillon nodded as he stepped forward. Suddenly the rubble that had once been a hanger began to shift and shake. "Get Back!" Dillon shouted, pushing Ziggy away as some of the rocks came their way. Already morphed, Dillon summoned his shield with barely a thought.

Moments later, something emerged from the rubble, not the large and menacing doombot, but what appeared to be a Zord shaped like a whale of some sort.

A pair of triumphant yells echoed over the com. "Gem, Gemma?" Scott said, almost breathless.

"That's-"

"Us."

"How?" Flynn asked.

"Doctor K did it," Gem said.

"She reprogrammed."

"The doombot."

"Into a new Zord."

Dillon looked over to where Scott was holding Summer close with one arm and clutching Flynn with the other. "So," Dillon drawled, "How much storage space do you have in that flying fish of yours?"

"Uh, that's a whale," Ziggy said from behind him.

"Enough for-"

"Both cars."

"I guess we're flying back then," Scott commented. "It'll be faster, since we don't have to avoid that prison."

"We'd still have to plot around it," Dillon replied, "They'll have air patrols to go with the ground patrols; especially if word gets to Venjix that we stole his robot and how we did it."

"I guess," Scott said, "but it would still be faster."

"It would be faster if we could just deal with it," Flynn muttered.

The five Rangers exchanged glances, thinking about the implications of what Flynn was suggesting. "We could," Gem began.

"Do that," Gemma finished.

"If by deal."

"You mean blow it up."

Dillon tuned out the twins' sound effects as he contemplated the reality of Flynn's words. He thought it might be doable, if not as easy as the twins were implying. "What would we do with the prisoners?" Summer asked.

"Place like that has trucks," Dillon offered, "so they can transport prisoners if they need to. We load them up in those and the flying whale will lead them to Corinth." When the other Rangers turned to them, Dillon shrugged, "Gem and Gemma aren't the only ones who checked out those prison camps. I wanted to know the best way out if I ever got captured."  _I was also looking for my sister, but I don't need to tell them that._

"We need to plan this," Scott said. "Let's get the cars loaded up before the Grinders come back and talk about this while we head that way."

Loading the cars wasn't easy, the Whale Zord not being especially graceful about landing and taking off, but they did manage to get the two vehicles in the zord before the first Grinders began to appear. Gem and Gemma tested out their new weapons system by taking potshots while the other Rangers strapped the cars in the hold to keep them from sliding around. "All right," Scott said as Flynn and Summer finally powered down, "Let's get out of here."

"Yes sir," Gem and Gemma declared.

The Zord turned out to have some extra rooms that Dillon had not anticipated, after all most of his Zord was taken up by weaponry and mechanics. He sometimes felt that his cockpit had been added as an afterthought, not a priority.

"There's a lot of space in here," Ziggy commented as they moved through the Zord.

"It's a doomsday robot," Scott replied, "Venjix probably intended to move hundreds of Grinders inside. The weapons would have taken out the dome and probably leveled the city, and the Grinders would have subdued the population."

"Makes sense," Flynn said. "But now that weaponry is ours."

"Right," Scott said as they finally found the Bridge. "Now, about that prison camp we want to deal with."

/…\\\\\

They wound up hovering with the camp on the edge of their sensors for most of the day. It allowed them to rest up from the fight and for Ziggy to explain what had happened at the interface. Once Dillon had accessed the system, Ziggy had found himself reduced to pacing, listening for the robotic whir that characterized the Grinders, and trying not to think about Gemma's dream. He'd never really had much experience with Silver Rangers, or their prophetic dreams, but like any Ranger kid, he had been extensively briefed in how to handle those dreams.

Still, it had been a shock when a hidden passage had slammed open to reveal at least two dozen Grinders. Ziggy had never been as happy for his magic as that moment. He'd thrown his hands up, and released two bolts of energy instinctively. The blast from his power had knocked the Grinders back, and then Dillon had woken up as another door had come open. Ziggy didn't remember morphing as the Grinders began firing on them, but he had. He didn't really remember joining Dillon in the fight, but he had. What he did remember was a shadowy figure, taller and broader than any attack bot they'd faced, moving with an odd, shuffling gate.

Still, they'd been over run, and there had been something about a self destruct, so Ziggy had teleported Dillon out of the factory in time to learn that Gem and Gemma would have to ride out the blast  _in the doom bot they had come to destroy._

That the twins had survived was, the group agreed, nothing short of a miracle. Now they were preparing for a second one.

This time, the plan was simple; Scott, Summer, and Flynn would locate the prisoners once they had been locked up for the night while Ziggy and Dillon secured the trucks. Gem and Gemma would hover over the facility and take care of any Grinders they saw, or the drones that flew. It was, all in all, an effective plan by all accounts.

Scott, Summer, and Flynn went in first, slipping into the camp between patrols, unmorphed and trusting to the desert gear Dillon kept in his trunk to keep them from standing out too much. They would maintain radio silence unless they absolutely had to.

Ziggy watched them vanish feeling tense and worried. He didn't want his friends to get in trouble. Beside him on the back side of the dune they were using for cover, Dillon was watching his watch. "Now," He finally breathed.

Ziggy wrapped an arm around Dillon's shoulders and teleported them into the camp. As they began to creep past the scattered debris, or whatever it was, Ziggy wasn't entirely certain what the camp was there for, the Whale Zord glided into view with all the majesty of its water bound cousins. Until the first lasers flash out and something exploded just out of sight. Dillon grabbed Ziggy's arm and yanked, bringing Ziggy out of his thoughts. "Let's go," Dillon said.

The pair raced for the biggest entrance to the camp, they had seen trucks in there during their earlier scouting.

The camp was starting to wake up as a siren went off, only to be cut short when it's source, an elevated platform, was destroyed by the Whale Zord. Ziggy winced slightly as some debris from that explosion landed nearby, then they were at the doors, which were already opening.

As soon as the door was wide enough, a mass of Grinders on motorcycles began to stream out, heading towards the Whale Zord.

Ziggy followed Dillon into the building, where they met their first Grinders, a half dozen that were standing between the trucks and a large, double door. Dillon muttered something before launching into the six with a roundhouse. Trusting Dillon to handle them, Ziggy scanned the large garage, only to find it looked empty. Carefully, he began to actually move through the space between trucks, watching for Grinders trying to hide. As it was, the small group that exploded out of one of the trucks took him be surprise, and only the fact that he was already morphed kept him from being hurt worse by their laser guns.

"Nitro sword," Ziggy said, pulling the weapon and launching himself at his opponents.

Without an audience, Ziggy didn't worry about downplaying his own skills, instead, he simply did what he had to do to take out the four grinders who had tried to ambush him.

When the last of the grinders was a sparking pile of scraps, Ziggy looked around and found Dillon watching, "It looks like most of the Grinders are outside," the Black Ranger said. "Gem and Gemma are dealing with them, but are worried that they didn't get the communications tower down fast enough. Scott, Summer, and Flynn are heading this way now."

"Right," Ziggy said, "let's get these trucks prepped."

The pair quickly got the first truck ready to accept passengers as Summer appeared with a dozen people in ragged clothing, "Let's go," Dillon called, "we need a driver and someone who can handle a gun up front, everyone else in back. As soon as we open the doors head straight out. Don't stop, whatever you do. Just head straight away from the factory, we'll regroup once we're away from here."

"I can drive," one of the prisoners said.

"I can handle a weapon," the man beside him said.

"Great," Dillon replied, he picked up one of the Grinder's guns and held it up, "Load them up."

Ziggy moved onto the second truck, and then the third, pulling down the ramp, making sure the keys were in the ignition and that there was a weapon handy for the person riding shotgun. As he started on the fourth truck in the six truck fleet, Dillon appeared, "This one is the last one," he said. "You'll be riding shot gun on this one. I'll be on one of the others. Summer and the others are setting charges they found in the armory to help level this place."

"Right," Ziggy replied.

Soon enough, the first of the trucks began to roll out as Dillon's truck finished loading. "All right," Ziggy called, "the last of you in this truck. Who's driving?"

"I am," one of the men replied, "Are you on shotgun?"

As Dillon's truck turned on it's headlights, Ziggy froze. A face all too familiar to him came clear in the dim light of the garage. "Hey, Green Ranger," the man said, "are you ok?"

"Uh," Ziggy said, trying to think of something he could actually say in this moment. "I'm fine, yeah, I'm fine. Everybody get in and hold on. It's probably going to get bumpy. There are some extra Grinder weapons back there, but we shouldn't need them." Turning, Ziggy watched the last of his group climb into their truck while the driver climbed into the truck cab. Once the last of the prisoners was secured, Ziggy took off the ramp and tied down the back of the canvas cover. Then he pulled himself into the cab of the truck and pulled out his nitro blaster. "Let's go," he said, trying not to stare at his companion. The man started the truck and slammed it into gear, the truck lurched and then they were on their way.

The ground outside the building was littered with the debris of Gem and Gemma's reign of terror, and Ziggy spotted three brightly colored figures leaping on board the hovering Zord as they went. Something in him relaxed at that sign. "Everything ok?" The driver asked.

"Fine," Ziggy managed and cleared his throat, "Just making sure everyone made it out safe. They're supposed to blow the building once we're clear."

"Define clear," the driver muttered.

"Edge of the camp," Ziggy replied.

He tipped his helmet slightly as his comm activated, "Scott here," Scott said, "we're safe away except one truck."

"That's us," Ziggy said, "we're almost out of the blast zone, right?"

"We're starting the sequence right now," Scott replied, "standing by."

"You might want to drive faster if you can," Ziggy told the driver, "they're starting the sequence for the detonators."

"Truck can only go so fast," the driver grunted even as he changed gears again.

"Sorry, just thought I'd warn you," Ziggy replied. He tipped his head again, "Dillon, where are you guys?"

"Just over the dune," Dillon replied, "we'll reorganize there."

"We need to get past the dune," Ziggy told the driver, "we'll reorder things there."

"Right," the driver replied.

Anything else either of them said was drowned out by a series of loud explosions. Ziggy leaned out the truck window to watch as the factory exploded. "Wow," he breathed.

"That was bigger than expected," Scott commented.

"What type of explosives did you use?" Dillon demanded.

"They looked like C4," Scott replied, "but we didn't find enough to create that big of an explosion."

"One of these guys says that they were a munitions plant once," Dillon reported, "and that there were lower levels were some old stuff was still stored."

"So we blew up a munitions stash," Ziggy commented, "impressive."

"Doesn't matter," Scott said, "Venjix won't be using that place for quite a while, and if he tried, we now have three long range Zords we can use."

The truck topped the sand dune to find the other trucks parked in a haphazard line, most of the prisoners milling around them. "That's intelligent," the driver muttered.

"What?" Ziggy asked.

"We're about to leave, why are they walking around," the driver said, "what if there were some Grinders still around?"

"I don't think there are that many," Ziggy replied, "Gem and Gemma are good shots, and the Whale Zord has some impressive weaponry."

The driver grunted as he parked the truck and Ziggy slid out. "Ziggy, Dillon, we're going to start out," Scott announced. "You two need to get these refugees moving as soon as possible."

"Right," Dillon replied as Ziggy spotted his friend. Dillon climbed onto the front tire well of one of the trucks, "Everyone listen up!" He shouted. "I know you're all celebrating be out of that place, but we can't hang around and throw a party. Everyone needs to get back in the trucks, and we'll get you safe to Corinth. My partner, Ranger Green, and I will be riding along as a ground force and the rest of our team are in the flying whale. Don't argue, load up!"

People began to move and Dillon jumped back down, "I'll be in the first truck," he told Ziggy.

"I'll take the last one," Ziggy replied, glancing over his shoulder as the driver of his truck approached. "Look, Dillon," he said, "there's someone I want you to meet first."

"Make it quick," Dillon snapped as he powered down.

"Right," Ziggy replied and turned to the driver, "Power down."

As shock and recognition crossed the man's face Ziggy gestured, "Hi Dad, this is Dillon, our Ranger Black. Dillon, this is my adoptive father, Conner McKnight."


	26. Debrief

Scott stared out the front screen of the Whale Zord, waiting on Dillon to signal that they were moving out. "What's taking so long?" Flynn muttered.

"How should I know?" Summer replied, "The refugees are probably just being difficult."

There was a faint crackle and then their helmet comms came on, "Hey Scott," Dillon said, "we're moving out."

"Ok," Scott replied, "we were getting a little worried."

"Apparently Ziggy knows one of our refugees," Dillon replied, "There was a touching reunion and everything. I'll let Ziggy explain when we get back to Corinth."

"Right," Scott replied. "Tell your people they should hurry, we're going to attract attention if we hang around too much longer."

"We're already moving," Dillon replied. "See you in Corinth, Ranger Black out."

"Ranger Red out," Scott replied.

"Did Dillon just comply with standard radio procedures?" Flynn asked.

"Sounded like it," Scott said.

"Does he even know what those are?" Summer asked.

"Probably not," Scott replied, "I seem to remember a night with alcohol and a bonfire."

Summer laughed, "Remember how upset Doctor K was?"

"Remember how mad Colonel Truman was?" Flynn countered.

"It was a pretty definitive way to express our feelings on the matter of the rules and regulations he wanted us to follow," Scott said.

"I think he was more upset about the marshmallows," Flynn commented.

This of course, led about to some other memories, stories from before they had become complicated. If this had the side effect of garnering some odd looks from Gem and Gemma, Scott figured it was worth it.

They made it to Corinth around noon, and had made solid radio contact several hours earlier to inform them of the influx of prisoners. Colonel Truman's "We sent you out to destroy a doomsday robot and you're bringing back more prisoners?" Was as hilarious as Scott had pictured it.

Dillon's dry response of, "It was a short cut," really topped it off.

By the time they arrived, however, Corinth had already set up the screening and medical tents just outside the city. Scott and the others were allowed to bypass the screening, although Scott had been tempted to go down and see who Ziggy's friend was. Instead, he found himself back in the Garage with Summer, Flynn, Gem, and Gemma, waiting for Ziggy, Dillon, and Colonel Truman to show up for the debriefing.

When the jeep pulled into the Garage, however, Scott was not prepared.

Dillon and Ziggy climbed out followed by an older, dark haired man in a red shirt and black jeans. A man that Scott knew, and when he looked at Summer and Flynn, their shocked faces told him he wasn't mistaken. "Hi guys," Ziggy said uncertainly, "um, this is my dad, Conner McKnight."

"Nice to meet you," Conner said, "I've been told you've met me, but I can't say that I remember that."

"What?" Scott managed finally.

"We'll explain later," Dillon said, "because I didn't quite follow it either. Mister McKnight, this is our Red, Scott Truman, Blue is Flynn McAllister, and Yellow is Summer Landsdown."

"Right," Conner agreed.

"Our Gold and Silver are Gem and Gemma," Ziggy added as the doors to Doctor K's lab opened, "and this is Doctor K, she created Project Ranger."

"I see," Conner replied.

"Conner McKnight," Dr K said as she joined the Rangers, "it's a pleasure to see you again. Rangers, we are debriefing in the conference room. Colonel Truman, if you'll join us."

"Of course," Truman agreed.

"I'll just wait here," Conner said, "I'm sure you don't need me asking questions every five minutes."

Ziggy hesitated a minute, "If you're sure," he began.

"I'm sure," Conner replied and ruffled Ziggy's hair, "go on, son. I'll be here when you're done."

Ziggy smiled and turned, "Let's debrief."

Scott was still watching Conner when Ziggy headed off, and so he saw the odd expression that crossed Conner's face as he looked at Ziggy. "Scott," Flynn called.

"Coming," Scott replied.

Everyone but Gemma was in the conference room, and the sight of Gem sitting by himself is startling enough that Scott hesitates for a brief moment. Gem glanced up at him, "Gemma will be here shortly," Doctor K announced, "but we can begin without her."

"May I say something," Gem asked, half raising his hand.

"Yes Gem?" Doctor K asked.

"Venjix was at the factory," Gem replied. "Gemma and I overheard him in a room talking to someone named 'Professor Cog'. He also said that his 'body' wasn't fit for combat and that they should begin to build him one that was. He also ordered Cog to avoid engaging us because he wasn't ready for us to see what Cog was capable of just yet. Venjix also set off that self destruct once he was sure that Cog was on his way out."

"You're sure it was Venjix?" Scott asked.

"The other one, Professor Cog, called him Venjix," Gem said.

"All right," Scott said, looking around the room, "Venjix with a body, good or bad?"

"Let's discuss that later," Colonel Truman replied, "I want to know how this mission went from 'destroy the doomsday robot' to 'rescue a hundred prisoners', and where did that new Zord come from?"

"From me," Doctor K announced, "Instead of writing a program that would leave the software destroyed and the hardware melted, I opted to instead create a program based off whale DNA to convert the doombot into a more useful form, that of a Zord for the team. Corinth has finite resources and there is little we can do to fill the need for stronger and more complicated Zords to deal with the Venjix attack bots, which are continuously being upgraded. We are both denying resources to the enemy and utilizing scrounged material, which fulfills a need we could not previously articulate."

"All right," Colonel Truman, "you're sure that there are no remains of Venjix in that Zord though?"

"Absolutely," Doctor K replied. "If you wish the details of the program, I would be happy to give you the specifications."

"That won't be necessary," Colonel Truman replied.

Scott glanced between the two, "On our way to the factory," he said instead, as Gemma came into the room, "we found it necessary to detour around a large prison facility to keep from being discovered. Our arrival at the factory was delayed to the point where it was better for us to spend the night and make our assault in the morning. Our original assault plan was for Flynn, Summer, and I to provide a diversion by assaulting from the front door while Dillon and Ziggy headed to the interface and Gem and Gemma headed for the Doombot through the back entrance discovered previously. There were some minor changes to that plan however." He glanced over at Gemma for a brief moment then continued, "Nothing exceptionally earth shattering, however. For how simple the plan was, Summer, Flynn, and I experienced no difficulties until Ziggy and Dillon teleported out of the facility and Gem and Gemma informed us of the self destruct. I'll let Ziggy explain their side of things."

"Me?" Ziggy said, he glanced around the room, "All right," he said, "Dillon, Gem, Gemma, and I went in through the back entrance and split up inside. Dillon and I returned to the console while Gem and Gemma went on their mission. While Dillon interfaced with the machine, I stood watch. Because of the uncertain nature of the location, I opted to not morph because my instinctive use of magic is faster and more reflexive than any weapon I use while morphed. This proved to be advantageous when a hidden door opened up on the catwalk where we were standing. I used a levinbolt to drive back the Grinders, but a second door opened just as Dillon left the interface. We morphed and fought the Grinders for a bit before retreating." Ziggy looked at the table for a long moment, "I don't know if Dillon saw it, but there was something else in the corridor, a robot I guess, that was heading away from us. I didn't get a good look as I was a bit distracted at the time, and then I had to teleport Dillon and I out of the factory before we were overwhelmed."

"I have nothing to add," Dillon said, "although I'll give you a more thorough report on the interface later, Doctor K."

"Thank you Dillon," Doctor K replied.

Gem and Gemma cleared their throats, "As I said earlier," Gem began, "during our infiltration."

"We heard Venjix talking to someone called Professor Cog."

"We didn't see either of them thought," Gem continued.

"We moved on with our primary objective."

"The doombot."

"We encountered almost no resistance on the way."

"When we entered the kill switch program Doctor K gave us."

"There was a hologram from her that told us about."

"Her new plan, including the new engine cells."

"Nice move that, we didn't realize you'd left them."

"After the self destruct went off we reinitialized the Whale Zord."

"Loaded up the Rangers' cars."

"And headed back this way."

"On the way back," Scott continued, "we decided that we had time to deal with the prison camp we'd avoided. We went in at dusk; Summer, Flynn, and I got the prisoners out of their cells and planted explosives we found in the camp. Dillon and Ziggy liberated the trucks we used as transport and Gem and Gemma provided air support, accounting for ninety five percent of the Grinders guarding the prison. We're not sure if the Grinders got a message off to Venjix, but as we were unmolested on the journey back it is likely that Venjix is not entirely certain of what occurred at the factory."

"And why did you decided to free them?" Colonel Truman asked.

"Because it wasn't right to just leave them there when we had clearly superior weaponry and transport available to us." Scott replied, "We did it because it was the right thing to do. Maybe staying here and protecting the dome is important, but we can't just ignore it when Venjix creates a prison camp within a day's flight of the city."

Truman nodded after a moment and stood, "While I understand your thoughts on the subject, Scott, next time please let us know before you decide to assault a prison camp."

Scott smiled, "Sir yes sir."

Truman left and the Rangers glanced at each other, "So, why is Conner even here?" Scott asked finally.

"I'm going to take him over to Trent's later," Dillon said, "Trent already offered, but Conner wanted to talk to Ziggy first."

"Right," Scott said and stood up. "I don't know about any of you, but I'm hungry and Mr. McAllister offered to grill for us tonight."

"Sounds like a plan," Dillon agreed, and Ziggy was already heading for the door.

In the Garage proper, they found Conner using Summer's pool table almost idly as he waited for them. "Hey Dad," Ziggy began.

Conner straightened and turned, "Zigreal," he said, "I've been trying to understand something."

"What?" Ziggy asked, suddenly looking nervous.

"Who are you and what you've done with my son." Conner replied, looking oddly calm.

"What are you talking about?" Scott asked, looking between Ziggy and Conner.

"I know my son," Conner said, "and I cannot see how the Zigreal McKnight that I know could have turned out like this unless something horrifyingly drastic happened to him."

"Maybe it did," Dillon replied, "I mean the world's ended and all of that."

"It doesn't explain the back of his neck," Conner replied, eyes still on Ziggy.

"It's a tattoo," Flynn began.

"No," Ziggy said, his voice unemotionally, "it's not. Is it, Dad?"

"If I didn't know better," Conner replied, "I'd say it was an  _amuriteses_  brand."

"Perceptive," Ziggy replied. "Why couldn't you have just been dead?"

Conner actually laughed, "You aren't the first one to ask me that. The truth is, I'm surprised as you that I managed to survive this far. Now I want to know what you're doing with my son and how long you've been holding him."

Ziggy laughed cruelly, "Isn't that always the question with you people." He slid his hand into his pocket and pulled something out. "Unfortunately, I must leave your curiosity unsettled Ranger McKnight." He made a flicking gesture with his hand and Scott realized it was a knife. Then he turned and threw it behind him before vanishing in black and green lightning.


	27. Calling A Meeting

_If she had screamed,_  Summer thought,  _it might have seemed more real._

She wasn't sure what had happened, one moment, Ziggy was excited to have his dad back from the grave, the next he'd become cold, emotionless, like he was a robot or something. Then he'd thrown a knife and vanished.

Now, Gemma lay on the floor, clutching her shoulder and the protruding knife while Gem knelt beside her and Doctor K struggled to her feet from where she'd landed when Gemma pushed her out of the way. Dillon was staring at where Ziggy had disappeared, mouth half opened as if he couldn't quite understand what had happened. Flynn and Scott were staring at Gemma, equally blank with shock.

Conner McKnight grabbed Summer's arm, "Do you have a medical staff around here?"

Summer blinked, "N-no," she said, "I have first aid training. Anything more serious, we go to Corinth Memorial to see Doctor Dana Grayson-Mitchell."

"Dana's here?" Conner said then shook his head, "All right, we need to call your emergency services for her and to stop the bleeding if we can."

Summer nodded. It felt like her brain was becoming unfrozen, "You're right. Scott," she said stepping over to give her friend a gentle push, "Go call emergency services now. Flynn, get the first aid kit. Gem, I need to see her shoulder, if you could move around to the other side. Doctor K, are you all right?"

"Bruised," Doctor K managed, "what happened to Ziggy?"

"He's being mind controlled," Conner replied, "depending on how long he's had that brand on his neck."

"He's always had it," Dillon said, coming out of his own stupor. "I saw it the first time I met him."

"He's been mind controlled this whole time?" Doctor K asked.

"Sort of," Conner said, "it's hard to explain. The being that put that brand on him, it doesn't control him exactly, because he doesn't have to." He sighed, "Look, I'm not good at explaining it, but, what's happened is that Ziggy's free will has been subverted. He wants to do what the being that controls him wants him to do. Except in some ways he's still Ziggy. Except instead of doing what he would want to do, he's doing what someone else wants him to do because he wants to do it."

"That's clear as mud," Dillon commented.

"I told you I wasn't good at explaining it," Conner replied. "My team, the Dino Thunders, we've never been big on the off world adventures and such like some of the other teams, we never really dealt with stuff like the brand."

"Do you know how to break the hold?" Doctor K asked.

"Not personally," Conner replied, "but I'm sure there are other people out there who do, however."

Flynn came out of the kitchen with the first aid kit, "Here it is," he said. "Someone put it back in the wrong place."

"Don't look at me," Summer replied, "hand me some bandages." She smiled down at Gemma, "Don't worry, Gemma. You'll be fine."

Gemma smiled weakly, "I know I will."

The ambulance's arrival was followed by the return of Colonel Truman, this time with guards. "What is going on?" The colonel demanded.

Conner, leaning against the pool table with a pool cue in hand, replied, "Colonel Truman, have you ever heard of an  _amuriteses_  brand?"

"No," Colonel Truman replied.

"I have," one of his guards said, Summer paused long enough to identify Blake before she headed into the kitchen to wash her hands.

"Enlighten me," Colonel Truman said.

"An  _amuriteses_  brand is a physical representation of a form of mind control," Blake said. "It works by subverting a person into doing what the brander wants. The brand is usually in the form of a triangle formed by three black dots. If it's on the back of the neck that means that it was placed there by one of the race of beings that created the brand. It can be in another position, though, usually when the brander was someone using the  _amuriteses_  secretion. The secretion isn't as reliable as a brand from the source, but it can still steer a person into willing compliance of the brander's desire."

"Very good," Conner said, "and Blake, it's good to see you."

"You to, Conner," Blake replied.

"Ziggy has an  _amuriteses_  brand," Conner continued, "on the back of his neck."

"So he's being mind controlled?" Colonel Truman asked.

"Close enough," Conner replied, "and he has been since he met Dillon at least."

"There are people who knew him before that," Summer said as she came out of the kitchen, "perhaps one of them would be willing to talk to us."

"I highly doubt someone from the Scorpion Cartel would be willing to talk to us," Colonel Truman commented.

"It wouldn't hurt to ask," Scott said with a slight nod.

"The question, however," Doctor K said, "is how do we stop the control?"

Summer watched as Conner and Blake exchanged looks, then Conner shook his head slightly, "That one, I don't know. Look, Red, I mean Scott, who else is here, among the Reds."

"Doctor Oliver," Scott replied, "Mackenzie Hartford, and the two of us, I think; plus Shane Clark is somewhere in the Rockies helping to evacuate people over to Russia with Dustin Brooks and your brother Eric."

Conner paused for a moment, and then nodded slightly, "Doctor O and Mack both might know more about dealing with the brands. Doctor O always liked to keep abreast of that stuff and Mack and his team helped a lot when Tyzonne needed it."

"All right," Scott said before Truman could act, "Summer, please request that Doctor Oliver and Mackenzie Hartford come to the Garage as soon as possible. If you don't know Mackenzie's contact number, ask Doctor Oliver, because I know he has it. Flynn, would you let your dad know something's come up and we probably won't make it out tonight. Don't tell him what happened, please, just send our apologies."

Summer nodded at Scott and headed for the video phone in the briefing area. The call to Doctor Oliver's was easy enough to place; sometimes it felt like they gave him weekly briefings on the doings of the Rangers.

It was Lexi who answered the call just before it went to voice mail, panting heavily and dark brown hair a mess, "Hi Summer," the young man said cheerfully, "need to talk to Dad?"

"Yes, if he's available," Summer replied.

"He'll be just a moment," Lexi said, "how have you been?"

"Well enough, I guess," Summer said, "and you?"

"Just doing some martial arts training, actually," Lexi replied. He glanced away from the screen, "Here's Dad. Good to see you Summer."

"Good to see you to," Summer replied as Lexi moved out of sight. Doctor Oliver sat down in front of the screen a moment later, "Hello, Doctor Oliver."

"Summer," Doctor Oliver replied, "you can call me Tommy."

"Maybe now is not the time," Summer said, "we've had a problem. Have you spoken to Trent today?"

"No," Doctor Oliver replied.

"Then I have good news and bad news," Summer said, "the good news is that we liberated a prisoner camp on our way back from our mission and found another Ranger who survived. Conner McKnight."

"Conner," Doctor Oliver said, "is he ok?"

"For the most part," Summer replied, "but here's the bad part. Conner determined that Ziggy had an  _amuriteses_  brand and confronted him about it. Ziggy threw a knife at Doctor K and vanished. Doctor K is fine however Gemma, our Silver Ranger, is currently on her way to the hospital, she pushed Doc K out of the way and took the hit herself." She took a deep breath, "Scott requests that you come to the Garage and bring Mackenzie Hartford to help us determine how to deal with these developments."

Doctor Oliver had gone still at Summer's words, after a moment, he nodded. "I'll call Mack, Summer. We'll be there in half an hour."

"Thank you," Summer said, "we appreciate the help."

Cutting the feed, Summer turned to watch as Dillon and Dr K began to argue, "I'm not saying it's a permanent solution," Dillon said, his voice rising, "but someone just made a clear and deliberate attempt to kill you. I think you should at least consider doing this."

"Doing what?" Summer asked.

"Hiding in the control room," Dr K replied, "will not prove anything."

"But it would keep you safe," Dillon cut in. "Ziggy can access anywhere else in the Garage and you know it. You said yourself that the control room is shielded against everything, including both magic and Ziggy's energy teleportation."

"I hate to say it," Scott said, "but Dillon's right, Doctor K. I can see that you don't like the idea, but until we can figure out if killing you is one of Ziggy's actual objectives, or if it was just a target of opportunity taken as a way to distract us, I would feel better if you would consider it."

Dr K looked from Scott to Dillon, and then over at Flynn, who had his arms crossed, "I suppose you agree?" She asked coldly.

"It is not a bad idea," Flynn said.

Summer bit her lip for a moment as Doctor K turned to look at her, "And you, Ranger Yellow?"

"Is the control room as shielded as Dillon says?" Summer asked instead.

"It is," Doctor K admitted.

"Can more of the Garage be shielded like the control room?" Summer asked, an idea beginning to form.

"To an extent, yes," Doctor K replied, "the magical shielding is the only part that would be difficult to expand as was developed and installed differently than the rest of it."

Summer nodded, "What if you were to expand that shielding, and then we asked the Mystic Rangers to come in and shield the rest of the Garage independent of the control room? We could always change it later, I'd bet. Then, you'd only have to be in the control room for a few hours while we made sure that Ziggy couldn't just teleport in and take a shot at you. It's not that we want to lock you away, Doctor K, it's that we don't want to lose you." She tried a smile at the other woman, "You're such a big part of our lives now that if something happened, we'd all be devastated."

Doctor K hesitated for a long moment, and then nodded. "That is an acceptable compromise. Do you agree, Ranger Red, Ranger Black?"

Scott nodded, "I agree."

Dillon stared at them for a long moment, and then also nodded, "I'm going to go make sure the doors and windows are shut upstairs," he announced. "Getting all that shielding in place won't mean a thing if Ziggy can just walk right in."

Summer nodded, "I think my window is shut, but feel free to check."

Soon enough, Xander and Charlie were in the Garage, discussing with Doctor K over a video monitor what kind of shielding they were to put in place. Doctor O arrived shortly after that with another man, "Scott," Doctor O said, "you remember Mack."

"Right," Scott said and shook the other man's hand. "Mack, these are my teammates, Flynn, Summer, and Dillon. Gem and Gemma are at the hospital while Gemma gets her shoulder stitched."

"Gemma is the silver ranger, right?" Mack asked as he nodded to the other Rangers.

"Right," Scott said. He pointed at the monitors, "That's Doctor K, the lady who created Project Ranger in the first case. She's currently in a secure location because Gemma took a knife for her when Ziggy left."

"Will Gemma be ok?" Doctor O asked.

"We think so," Summer offered, "It looked like it just hit muscle, but we haven't heard back from the hospital to know for sure."

"The Power will protect her," Doctor O said. "Now, about the  _amuriteses_  brand, you said it was on the back of his neck?"

"Yes," Scott said.

"I noticed it the day we met in the wastelands," Dillon said, "I thought it was just a tattoo."

"So basically, it's been there the entire time Ziggy has been a Ranger," Mack said, "that's not good."

"Ziggy didn't want to be a Ranger," Dillon said, "it's one of the first things he said after he morphed. He only became a Ranger to keep Tenaya from getting her hands on the morpher."

"That's odd," Mack said, "they've been trying to get their hands on unfiltered morphers for years, why wouldn't an operative want to bond to a morpher?"

"Are we sure this is  _their_  work?" Doctor O asked, looking at Mack.

"Who else would use a brand on someone from Earth?" Mack replied.

"It could be just secretions made to look like a brand," Doctor O offered, "that one chick tried that, remember?"

"I don't think so," Conner cut in, "I remember helping out with that chick, and Ziggy was different. I think it's an actual brand."

"Conner?" Mack said.

"Yes," Conner said, he spread his hands out, "I'm alive. I've been in a Venjix prison facility for the past few years. I must say, I thought I could trust you people to take care of my kids, I come back to find that one daughter is missing presumed dead, the other is about two days away from being adopted by the Samurai, and seriously, the Samurai? My sons, well, one of them is a member of Colonel Truman's defense force, and provided me with a rundown of what's going on with the family and the other son is a mind controlled Power Ranger."

"Blame Trent as much as you blame me," Doctor Oliver retorted, "he's the one you gave guardianship of Chase and Zoe to, and Ziggy went from missing to Ranger in about a week."

"Actually," Dillon cut in, "Ziggy was in Corinth since the shield went up. We know he left and was in the wasteland for about three months before he came back with me."

"So you know what Ziggy was up to before he became a Ranger?" Conner asked.

Dillon hesitated, looking at Scott, "We don't know the full story," Scott said, "but we have reason to believe that Ziggy was involved with a cartel before he left Corinth."

Colonel Truman cleared his throat, "According to a former undercover agent, Ziggy was a part of the so-called Scorpion Cartel. Given the events of the day Ziggy acquired the morpher, we've not had reason to doubt. The thing is, Ziggy is in a lot of trouble with the cartels, all of the cartels. My agent wasn't aware of the full details of what happened, but by we do know that if Ziggy wasn't under the protection of Project Ranger, it's very likely he would not be alive today. At least, that's what Agent Cooper was able to tell me."

Summer wasn't close enough to actually hear it, but from the expressionless look of Scott's face and the way Dillon and Flynn looked at him, she was willing to bet that Scott had growled. He'd never really forgiven David Cooper for the incident when Mister McAllister was shot.

"Cooper?" Conner asked.

"David Cooper," Colonel Truman replied.

"Max's cousin," Doctor Oliver added, and nodded towards Scott, "there's a bit of bad blood between him and Scott, but he's a good kid."

"He put a knife to Flynn's throat," Scott snarled, "in the world I come from, that's not acceptable."

Summer cleared her throat and assumed a thoughtful expression, "Actually, we should probably thank him at some point."

"Why would we thank him?" Scott asked.

"Because," Summer said, "if Cooper hadn't of pulled a knife on Flynn, then Mister McAllister wouldn't have gotten shot, leading to Flynn moving in with his dad for a while. If Flynn had remained at the Garage, we would never have celebrated to the point of being blacked out drunk. If we had never gotten that drunk while celebrating, I highly doubt that certain events that took place shortly before the arrival of our time travelers would have occurred. So if you look at it  _from a certain point of view_ , Cooper is the reason for the relationship the three of us currently enjoy."

Summer found that she had actually missed Scott's dumbfounded expression almost as much as Flynn's 'eureka' expression. It also served to shut them up rather nicely. For a few moments.


	28. Chapter 28

“Ok,” Xander said, “we’re about ready to put up the shielding.”

Scott turned, “Ok, do we need to clear out of here?” He glanced at crowd that had migrated back into the main part of the Garage as they waited on Xander and Charlie.

“I just thought you’d want to deal with him first,” Xander said, pointing upwards.

Scott looked up to find Ziggy watching them from the catwalk with a slight smile. “Ziggy!” Conner said.

“Zigreal,” Ziggy replied, “I’ve never really liked Ziggy, _dad.”_

“Ok,” Conner said, “Zigreal, what do you want? Why are you doing this now?”

Ziggy shrugged, “It just felt like the right time. He’s coming, you know. It won’t take him that long to claim Earth now. You’ve all made it so easy.”

“Who’s he?” Scott asked.

Ziggy chuckled as he straightened up, “You should have listened to Bridge, _Uncle Tommy,_ and maybe none of this would have happened.” He started to turn away, then stopped and turned back, “Ask yourself this,” he continued, “when the day comes and he arrives, don’t you want to be on the winning side for a change?” With a pop and a flash of green and black work, Ziggy vanished.

Scott turned to Doctor Oliver, “What was he talking about?” He asked.

Doctor Oliver glanced at the number of people staring at him, and then turned to Mack, “You were there, care to explain.”

Mack shrugged, “Sure. Back when Overdrive was active, we had several different groups of villains trying to claim a magical artifact called the Corona Aurora. For the most part, we handled it rather well, but there was one villain who caused a lot of problems. His name was Thrax and he claimed to be the son of Rita and Zedd.” He glanced around for a moment, “Thrax used his abilities to not only knock us out of morph, but to somehow damage our connection to the Morphin’ Grid. While we were without our powers, some veteran Rangers was recruited to help us. Among them was a Red Ranger from the future, a man named Bridge Carson, from SPD.”

“SPD is a police force that uses what we refer to as ‘filtered morphers’ to create pseudo Rangers,” Doctor Oliver cut in. “Originally, the Rangers were somewhat favorable to the idea, the filtered morphers allowed people to become more physically adept as fighters, but not with all the requirements of being Rangers. After a while, however, SPD became corrupt and bad things happened. For an Earth SPD Ranger to come from the future after the Elder Red said he’d see the Power stripped from any Red who let SPD come to Earth was unsettling.”

“When Bridge left,” Mack said, “He left us a warning. SPD was corrupted by a Warlord turned Emperor named Grumm. Bridge told us that Grumm would be defeated at SPD Earth.”

“Sounds like a rock and a hard place,” Summer said quietly as she moved to stand with her shoulder brushing Scott’s.

“What happened?” Flynn asked, taking his place at Scott’s other shoulder. Despite how tense and upset he was, Scott felt something in him unknot as they leaned in a little.

“A lot of things,” Doctor Oliver replied, “there was no one reason why we never reconciled Bridge’s warning with our wariness of what would happen under the aegis of SPD. There were negotiations with Galactic Command, but nothing ever came of it. Not to mention how much trouble the UN gave us over the negotiations. It just never worked out, even though we did try. Even Jason buckled down and tried and he hated SPD more than any other Ranger on Earth.”

“Thanks for the history lesson,” Conner said, “but what does this have to do with, you know, _saving my son from himself?”_

“They asked,” Mack pointed out.

“Now I’m asking,” Conner snapped.

“Calm down,” Doctor Oliver said, “let’s let the Mystics shield the Garage and we’ll figure this out.”

“Actually,” Charlie said, “there is something I thought of.”

“What?” Conner asked.

“Ziggy’s magic,” Charlie replied. “He’s powerful, probably equal to his mother as a matter of fact, but he doesn’t have much control.”

“That’s not entirely accurate,” Dillon replied. “I’ve seen him do some pretty amazing stuff with it.”

“When?” Scott asked, and winced a little, “I mean, Ziggy keeps his business to himself for the most part.”

“That night something happened and I tried to take down the shields from the Ranger Room,” Dillon replied. “When Ziggy teleported us onto the roof, he was using his magic. I didn’t realize it at first, but he was. He put some sort of shield around his hands and arms to help him block me, among other things. Remember, he dislocated my shoulder.”

“Yes,” Scott said, “I remember. How did he do that to your shoulder anyways?”

“He pulled,” Dillon replied, “like he wanted to rip my arm off. But Ziggy’s always pretty careful about letting you guys see him do that.”

“Why?” Summer asked.

Dillon raised his eyebrow, “Maybe, _Princess,_ because you’ve never appreciated him as a person, much less a green ranger. Maybe because it still bothers him that your first reaction to finding out that he put the morpher on to keep Tenaya from getting it was _please, anyone but Ziggy._ Maybe it’s because you never think about the fact that Ziggy knows more about the Rangers than any of you and so whenever he makes a comment about the Rangers you dismiss him. You see him as a joke, as a kid, as an incompetent, and you’ve never looked to see more. Ziggy is a _lot more._ He’s a con artist for the first, and secondly, this is the man who raised him,” Dillon pointed at Conner, “according to you three, you met his alternate timeline self. Do you honestly think Ziggy is really that incompetent a fighter, unless he’s doing it on purpose? Ziggy survived months in the wasteland. If he’s as incompetent as he acts, he wouldn’t have lasted a day. You treat Ziggy like he isn’t worth your time and you wonder why he never tells you anything.”

Scott bit his lip and Summer stirred, “It’s not like that,” Flynn protested.

“No,” Scott said, “there’s some truth to it.”

“Scott,” Summer said.

“He’s not entirely right,” Scott said, “my first reaction wasn’t _anyone but Ziggy_ because I didn’t want him, it was because I thought, based on what evidence I saw, that Ziggy wasn’t trained, and we’d end up getting him killed.”

“He’s not a joke either,” Summer said, “He’s just got these walls and he won’t even try to let us see past them. I’ve tried to get him to talk to me, but he won’t.”

“We agreed,” Flynn continued, “that since Ziggy is so aggressively determined to push us away, we wouldn’t force him. For his own reasons, Ziggy likes and trusts you, so we weren’t pushing where we weren’t wanted.”

“But Ziggy’s one of _mine,”_ Scott said fiercely, “Same as you are, and Gem and Gemma, and Flynn and Summer. He’s _my team._ Personality conflicts aside, I’ll going to do whatever it takes to get him back because he is _our_ green ranger. Even if we could have given someone else the morpher that first day, I wouldn’t have.”

“During the time travel,” Summer said, “Dustin told me that given the way Scott chose Flynn, and Flynn chose me, that we’d find our other teammates the same way. That’s why I fought for you, because I knew you were the right person, and that’s why we went to bat for Ziggy. You thought he was worth something, which meant we needed to keep an eye on him.”

“What the hell kind of team are you even running here?” Conner interrupted them.

“Ask our mentor,” Dillon said, gesturing to where Doctor K was watching from the view screen. “She’s the one who’s supposed to be in charge around her.”

“Ranger Black,” Doctor K said sharply.

A sharp whistle cut through the room, and Mack nodded, “Before we start tearing up the way these Rangers do business, can we get back to the business at hand? What were you saying about Ziggy’s magic, Charlie?”

“It’s this,” Charlie said, “Ziggy’s always careful about using his magic, almost like he’s afraid of it. Given what happened when he left home, that wasn’t too surprising. At least, that’s what I thought. The thing is, his magic works at odds with him about half the time. There’s a theory that magicians who have the Power often find their magic align with the Power more strongly than others. Lance told me once that if he tried to use his magic to do something mean, not like a prank, but something wrong, it fights him. Ziggy’s magic, it seems to be the same way. What if, because Ziggy has the Power now, his magic is fighting the Brand? Tyzonne said once that magic can burn out the power of a Brand if used right, but that it was hard to do from an external source because it requires a lot of energy.”

“He’d need a reason to fight the Brand,” Xander said.

“I know of one,” Conner said. “If you think that Ziggy’s magic can break the brand, I know the perfect incentive.”

“Let’s get the shield up first,” Colonel Truman said.

“While we are waiting,” Doctor K said, “I just received word from Gem. Gemma will be fine; the knife missed all vital points and is already beginning to heal. The doctors wish her to stay overnight for observation. Gem is planning to stay with Gemma until they return so that no one will take advantage of her injury. However, if there is an emergency they are both willing to fight if necessary.”

“Thanks Doc,” Scott said. He glanced at Flynn and Summer, then looked at Conner, “Mister McKnight, I’m not afraid to admit that our team has had a lot of problems, and it might look like it’s us three against Ziggy and Dillon, but it’s not. It’s just that, we were here when the dome sealed. We became a team of three, and we fought that way for over a year. We were pretty much isolated from the rest of Corinth, and all we had was each other. When we accepted Dillon and Ziggy, we knew it would be difficult. We’re used to things being a certain way, and adding more people brought a lot of changes. Not just two new team members, but with all the morphers activated, Doctor K began to finish and activate more weapons for us. Before Dillon and Ziggy arrived, we saw Doctor Kendall maybe once or twice a month, and Colonel Truman maybe once a week, usually though he’d use the video communications system. Now it’s a lot busier. Blake comes by to train, Doctor Kendall, Doctor Stewart, and a few others come over to work on technology with Doctor K. Then we got Gem and Gemma back and our home has become Grand Central Station. It’s not that we don’t want, or don’t like, Ziggy, it’s that we had a year of living in each other’s pockets, and now we have so many people coming around that it’s sometimes easier to back off and stay out of the way than it used to be.”

“A lot has changed,” Summer said, and she gave Flynn a sly grin, “we haven’t even had night drills in months.”

“Remind me to start wearing shorts to bed,” Flynn muttered.

“It’s not really an excuse,” Scott said, “but it is, what it is. When this is over, we’ll do something about breaching the walls we’ve all allowed to exist.”

“There,” Xander said, “shield’s done.”

“So, what incentive do you have for Ziggy?” Doctor Oliver asked Conner.

“First,” Conner said, “we need to know if Ziggy’s magic is reacting the way you said it might, Charlie.”

“I don’t know how to do that,” Charlie replied, “and I won’t allow Lance to try.”

“I’ve got something else in mind,” Conner said, “speaking of Bridge Carson, does anyone know if he’s here in Corinth?”

“He is,” Blake offered, “he used to be part of the defense force, but there was this, incident, and it was agreed to transfer him into the science division. I believe he works with Doctor Stewart and Doctor Kendall now.”

“Incident?” Colonel Truman asked.

“The robot dog,” Blake replied.

If Scott hadn’t of been watching his dad, he would have missed the twitch in his lips that was the older man’s attempt at hiding a smile. “Robot dog?” Conner said.

“Never mind,” Truman said, “why do you want Bridge Carson.”

“Carson was one of a group of kids affected by an SPD experiment. Because of that experiment, he has certain abilities,” Conner replied. “The simple version is he can read auras, but what he actually does is far more complicated. If he agrees, he could actually determine how Ziggy’s magic and Power are reacting with the Brand.”

“All right, let’s say we do that,” Colonel Truman said, “what about the incentive.”

Conner leaned against the pool table, “Chase and Zoe say that Jessie is dead, killed on the bus with my wife, Nia. That wasn’t entirely accurate, my daughter, my beautiful, too stubborn for her own good daughter, refused to leave at all during the evacuation. That’s why she was on the second bus with Nia. Two soldiers had to drag her on board the bus and sit on her. When the bus started moving, they stood up and Jessie went out the emergency door in the side of the bus. Whether Nia would have followed, I can’t say. The drones got through and hit the bus before anything else could happen. Jessie was with me when we got free of Reefside after the fighting broke out. I lost track of Ethan and Kira, but I got Jessie out. We were heading this way when a Grinder patrol captured us. We were working in a facility in the mountains together for the longest. Then I was sent to the facility where you rescued me. Jessie was one of a group of teenagers selected for a ‘special experiment’ by a robot called Professor Cog. You want Ziggy back? Tell him that Jessie’s alive and in Venjix’s hands.” He shrugged, “I can’t promise there will be much of a fight left for anyone else, but that’s one hell of an incentive for him.”


	29. A New Ally

The next morning started with an old tradition, Flynn fell off the pull out bed in Summer’s room. To his credit, Flynn didn’t bolt as he realized he was dressed only in his briefs, only rearranged the sheet to cover his lap primly when Scott stared down at him. Scott also considered it a win that Summer, wearing Scott’s buttoned pajama top and little else, didn’t bolt for the shower. “So,” Scott said, “I guess this proves that sober or drunk doesn’t really matter.”

Flynn shrugged and reached for his own shirt, “At least our clothes won’t be scattered across the Garage,” Summer said. She glanced around the room with a laugh, “Although scattered across my room doesn’t seem much better.”

“Let’s get ourselves put together,” Scott said, “we have a mission to start today, remember. From what Conner was saying last night, I think we’re going to need extra coffee to deal with Bridge.”

“Is that what he was telling you?” Flynn asked, “I couldn’t hear him clearly because someone decided they had to have dinner immediately.”

“I’m allowed to be hungry,” Summer replied, “and you both know that me plus microwave equals disaster more often than not. Besides, it sounded like Conner was on his way to another rant about Ziggy and I figured Scott would appreciate the privacy.”

“Don’t remind me,” Scott replied as he got up and began sorting clothes from around the room, heedless of the looks his partners were giving him. “Conner had some very pointed things to say about Ziggy, and he wasn’t that far off base about the situation.”

“What are we going to do about that?” Summer asked, looking from Flynn to Scott, “Last time I tried to talk with him, Ziggy just about took my head off.” The yellow ranger stood up and began collected the pillows off the bed, tugging the shams back into place and pulling off one that had stains on it. Flynn, after pulling his pants on, began to fold up the sheets as well.

“It might be better if we started with Dillon,” Scott said. “For whatever reason, Ziggy trusts Dillon. Maybe it’s because they knew each other as kids, and maybe it’s because Dillon brought him to Corinth, but I think if we made an effort with Dillon now, we might have some headway in helping Ziggy when he comes back. Not to mention we also need to look into adjusting to Gem and Gemma.”

“I wish there was something we could do,” Summer said, “that think tank place really did a number on them. I like Gemma, don’t get me wrong, but I just don’t know how to connect with her.”

Moving around each other with all the grace of a trained dance troupe, the trio returned the room to its normal appearance. They might have been bringing back movie night in fits and starts, but the old habits remained, including Summer’s ability to refold the couch where Flynn and Scott could not.

“Let me worry about Gemma,” Flynn offered as he arraigned the couch cushions. “She’s a solid engineer when she wants to be, we’re already making a connection because of that. Gem’s the one who has trouble accepting us, but I’m not sure why.”

“We’ll talk to all three of them,” Scott said as he tossed the last of Summer’s clothes into her laundry basket, “as soon as we have a quiet moment today. They deserve to have some input into any rearranging of the team. The team needs to be solid, in synch in a way we haven’t fully achieved since Dillon and Ziggy morphed for the first time. Not just the morphing link, but the rest of it.”

“Too bad we can’t shut down the base,” Summer said, “enforced bonding worked out well for the three of us.”

“The team is more than us now,” Scott said. “We can’t just shut down the city for a month or two for training reasons now. It worked the first time because we were all rookies. I doubt a similar argument would fly now, we’re all past the initial training, Gem and Gemma have been consistently beating our scores, Dillon blows the curve, and if you’re not careful, Flynn, Ziggy’s going to beat your scores in the simulators before too long.” He picked up his clothes, “Summer, I want you to sound out Gem; I think you’ll find more of a connection there. Flynn, you have Gemma. I’ll have a chat with Dillon.”

“Do you want to bring the first aid kit with you when you do that, or should we simply await your arrival afterwards prepared to doctor your wounds?” Summer asked tartly.

“I said talk, not fight,” Scott replied. “On the other hand, I will fight for first showers.” He grinned at Flynn and headed for the door.

After showering and breakfast, the trio joined Doctor K and Dillon in the Ranger Room, “I still say you cheated,” Flynn muttered as they approached Doctor K’s work station.

“No, cheating would be if I had pulled you out of the bathroom so I could shower first,” Scott replied, “I simply opted not to bring clean clothes into the bathroom with me. A towel strategically placed for your delicate sensibilities was all I required.”

“My delicate sensibilities?” Flynn said.

“Rangers,” Doctor K said pointedly, “as scintillating as this conversation is, we do have a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it in.”

“Yes ma’am,” Scott said.

“Doctor Kendall and Bridge Carson will arrive at the Garage in an hour,” Doctor K continued, “but Gem and Gemma will be here sooner. Gemma’s wound has healed completely with minimal scaring, so she’ll be prepared to assist in this mad scheme if necessary.”

As if on cue, the doors to the Ranger Room opened and Gem and Gemma walked in, “Good morning,” Gem said cheerfully.

“Good morning,” Scott replied, “welcome back.”

“How’s your shoulder?” Summer asked Gemma as the twins joined the group.

“It itches,” Gemma replied.

Summer smiled tightly, “That’s good. I can’t believe how fast you moved.”

“Gem, Gemma,” Doctor K said, and allowed Gem to pull her into a quick hug. “Thank you. Now, Bridge Carson is supposed to be here soon to see if he can determine how Ranger Green is responding to the mind control. This is not our only avenue of redemption. If Carson cannot achieve the goal, we shall have to find a different one. If Carson’s attempt is successful, Ranger Black will confront Ranger Green on his sister’s survival.”

Scott didn’t look at Summer or Flynn, but he could feel his face heat up at remembered humiliation. That had stung the worst, to have to acknowledge that Dillon was the only one who Ziggy might trust to hear about his sister. It had really thrown their complete failure as friends back in their face.

“Do you still think that leaving Ziggy alone after we tell him is the best path?” Summer asked quietly.

“Yes,” Dillon said.

“Ziggy isn’t our only problem,” Scott said, bringing everyone’s attention to him. “We do still have the android, and Tenaya Seven to deal with, plus any attack bots they chose to throw our way. I want Ziggy back, but without him here, our job just got much harder. We can’t forget our main objective is to protect Corinth. The team is our most valuable asset, our only asset in many cases, but we don’t vanish just because something’s wrong with Ziggy. Furthermore, given the way the press has a history of dragging down the very people it once praised. We need to appear ultimately confident, but silent on the subject of Ranger Green. We’ve used a simple lie of a missing teammate having sustained a minor injury in training and is sitting a fight out to insure complete healing, but that only works if we don’t have an attack bot where we’d call everyone in anyways.”

“Ranger Red is correct,” Doctor K said. A soft chime came from the computers and Doctor K turned back to them, “Carson and Doctor Kendall are here.”

“Let’s go meet Bridge Carson,” Scott said.

Bridge Carson proved to be a slender, dark haired young man who reminded Scott of Ziggy in some ways. The most distinctive differences were that Bride had short, straight hair over Ziggy’s curls, and he wore black gloves. As he approached, Scott realized that he remembered this young man. He hadn’t mentioned it, but the name had been bothering him since Conner had first brought it up. “Bridge Carson,” he said, offering his hand, “it’s good to see you again.”

“Again?” Dillon asked from behind him.

“I applied for Project Ranger,” Bridge said as he shook Scott’s hand. “Series Yellow first, and I would have applied for Series Green but things were a little busy at the time.”

“I knew your name was familiar,” Flynn said, shaking Bridge’s hand next. “Call me Flynn.”

Scott gestured to the rest of the team, “This is Summer, Dillon, Gem and Gemma, most of the rest of our team, and the team mentor, Doctor K.”

Bridge smiled at the last introduction, “It’s nice to finally meet the legendary Doctor K.”

“I’m not sure if legendary would be an accurate statement,” Doctor K said.

“I’m not often in the weapons labs,” Bridge said, “after the thing with the dog, which really wasn’t my fault. I mean, I did warn Sky that the dog was still experimental, and he was the one who took it up to the command tower. The fact that the dog suffered catastrophic meltdown in the middle of Commander Truman’s office wasn’t my fault either. I mean, yes I built the dog, and yes I left it in Sky’s care while I was on duty, but Sky was the one who took the dog up to the tower when he ran an errand. It’s not like I wanted to leave the defense either, we all have to do our part and all of that, but I am happy to be in the science labs, even if I have to work with Doctor Stewart, and I really don’t know why people don’t like him. I mean, he’s a little touchy about the Power but after all that he went through, that’s really not surprising and he’s always been nice to me and his step-sister did adopt me which was really nice of her. She never got mad at me, even when my powers acted up, and Doctor Stewart is really nice on the bad days too, and of course that one time Doctor Kendall and Doctor Stewart collaborated and I got to work with Julian Park was very interesting. He really likes you Doctor K, like the little sister he didn’t know he had or something, which is pretty novel considering he’s a younger son himself, but he told me all about you. You were his second favorite topic, his first being the Rangers, I don’t think he had a crush on Flynn but there was something about Flynn that just pushed all his little brother instincts or something. Not that I really know much about that, I don’t have any brothers or sisters, unless you count the others like me, but I really don’t because we aren’t genetically related regardless of what happened in the lab, and Sky wasn’t there at all which is really cool because sometimes people make sibling jokes and I’d hate to have people think I’m dating my brother, which I’m really, really not, and why are you all staring at me, do I have something in my teeth?”

“Bridge!” Doctor Kendall said, “Breathe for a moment, ok honey? You aren’t in trouble, but I think you surprised them.”

“Sorry about that,” Bridge said with a small smile.

“That’s fine,” Scott said, resisting the urge to look at his teammates. “Might I presume that Conner and Doctor Kendall brought you up to speed on our problem?”

“Yes,” Bridge said. He glanced at Doctor Kendall for a moment, looking nervous. “You want me to see if Ziggy’s magic is fighting his Brand, so you can help him break it. I can do that, no problem. It’ll be nice to catch up with another old friend.”

“You know Ziggy?” Dillon said.

“More in the, we both know Rangers way,” Bridge replied, “My adopted dad was a Ranger, but not with Uncle Conner.” He stared at Dillon for a long moment, “You look really, really familiar. I think I know you, but I don’t know. Do I know you or do you just have one of those faces? I’ve never really understood that phrase, what kind of face are they talking about?”

“It’s possible,” Dillon said as Bridge paused. “That we know each other, I mean, or rather, that you might have known me before Venjix. I used to be known as James Hart, or Johanason.”

Scott glanced over as Dillon stepped closer to Bridge; he’d never actually heard Dillon admit to his previous identity so casually. “Used to be known as James?” Bridge asked.

“Amnesia,” Dillon replied quietly.

“Bridge,” Scott said, “what do you need to be able to read Ziggy?”

“I need to be close, for the kind of reading you want,” Bridge said after a moment’s pause. “Maybe ten feet would be good? No more than twenty feet, or I can’t guarantee accuracy. I don’t need physical contact though, in fact, I’d prefer it.” He toyed with the strap on his glove for a moment. “I could try checking somewhere he’s been recently, but that doesn’t always tell me what I need to know, and the presence I read degrades fast.”

“So you have to actually see Ziggy,” Scott said, “and pretty close by.” He frowned, “That could be dangerous.”

“My job is dangerous,” Bridge replied. He glanced at Doctor Kendall who frowned for a moment and nodded reluctantly, “There was a suggestion,” he said.

“What kind of suggestion?” Scott asked.

“Wait,” Doctor K said “do you need everyone here? Gem says he and Gemma haven’t eaten yet.”

Scott thought about it for a moment then shook his head. “No, when we start making a workable game plan, I’d want input, but I can handle this. You two go eat, Gem, Gemma.”

“I need to shower,” Dillon muttered and headed upstairs.

“Doctor Kendall,” Doctor K said, “I was hoping you could provide some insight on a matter of some importance.”

“Of course,” Doctor Kendall replied.

Scott watched his team break up, leaving Summer and Flynn standing beside him and Bridge watching as well. “Let’s sit down in the briefing room,” he suggested to Bridge. “What kind of suggestion?”

“Well, I have my boyfriend, his name is Sky Tate,” Bridge said as he walked beside Scott. “He’s like me, he has special abilities. Unlike mine, he can create a shield. It won’t block everything, but he volunteered to act as a guard for me.” Bridge shrugged as he climbed on one of the stools, “He’s not that happy about me agreeing to do this, and I think being there and able to protect me to a small extent would make him feel better.”

Scott glanced at Summer and Flynn, “Ziggy hasn’t,” Flynn began.

“Flynn,” Scott said. He turned to Bridge, “Ziggy threw a knife at Doctor K right after he was unmasked. Gemma knocked Doc K out of the way and took the hit. Other than that, Ziggy hasn’t seemed inclined to cause random destruction.”

“Sky just doesn’t want anything to happen to me,” Bridge said.

“Some people are like that,” Summer said, “Scott, for instance is incredibly overprotective when we aren’t morphed.” She reached over and squeezed Scott’s arm, “You are, and you know it. Just look how you are about Cooper.”

“Cooper?” Bridge sat up a little, “David Cooper?”

“Yes,” Scott said tightly.

“He’s another of my friends,” Bridge said, “Is this about McAllister’s place, because Davey felt really bad about what happened, but he was happy he’d stayed the extra day because he could do something when Ranger McAllister showed up.”

“Back to Sky,” Summer said. The grip on Scott’s arm tightened before he could speak up, “He works in the Defense, right?”

“Yes,” Bridge said, “he’s a lieutenant.”

“I’ll call Colonel Truman,” Scott said, “we’ll see if Sky can be released for a security detail.”

“He’ll have a partner,” Summer said.

“As long as it isn’t Cooper, I can live with it,” Scott replied. He stood up and headed for the video phone.

Before he could even activate the screen, the alarms went off.

“What’s going on?” Flynn asked.

The computer screens flicked on to show Doctor K and Doctor Kendall at Doctor K’s computer set up. “The android that resembles Jezreal McKnight has returned to Corinth.” Doctor K announced, and then glanced at one of her other screens. “Ranger Green has activated his morpher. He is currently in close relation to the android. Based on her location and his movements, they will intersect each other.”

Scott nodded and glanced over his shoulder. Dillon was pulling on his shirt as he jumped off the stairs. “Doc K, would you please contact Colonel Truman, request that Lieutenant Sky Tate and a partner report to the coordinates for Ranger Green. They will rendezvous with Dillon and Bridge there to take Ziggy’s readings.”

“Immediately,” Doctor K replied.

Scott turned to Dillon, “I want you with Bridge for three reasons. First, I trust your judgment, if Bridge tells you that Ziggy needs the incentive, you’ll use it. Second, Ziggy trusts you out of all of us; if you tell him the incentive he is more likely to trust you. Third, Bridge’s abilities make him valuable, not just today but in the future if he’s willing. Your shielding abilities will be better used to protect Bridge until Lieutenant Tate arrives. If we are still dealing with the android, you are free to join us after you’ve spoken to Ziggy.”

Dillon pointed at Bridge, “Let’s go.”


	30. A Day For Conversation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been saying this since YOT. Second to last chapter there, I believe. Yes she is. Yes I have always had this planned. It was one of my fun little concepts that never went away. Although though the other thing? That took me by surprise and then I decided it was perfect. As for Ziggy, well, Ziggy's arc isn't even half way done. Yes, I chose Syd deliberately. They play an important part in future chapters and I'm adjusting to their writing style.

Dillon looked at Bridge as the young man buckled his seat belt, "You really think you can do this?"

"Of course," Bridge replied.

Dillon nodded, started the car and threw it into reverse. "Ranger Black," Doctor K said, "I have downloaded Ranger Green's position into your GPS. He will intersect with the Android in five minutes."

"We'll be there before that," Dillon replied and slammed the fury into gear. "Here we go," he told Bridge with a grin.

To his credit, Bridge only screamed once, when Dillon had taken one turn a bit sharper than he should have. He also did not jump out of the car or throw up when they reached their destination. Ziggy, fully morphed was stalking across the plaza and the sounds of battle could be heard from beyond the far buildings. "Ziggy!" Dillon shouted as he scrambled out of the car.

The green ranger turned, "James Hart," he drawled, "what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you," Dillon improvised, stepping forward. "I wanted to understand."

"Understand what? Why I hate Doctor K? Why I'm doing this? Why I became a Power Ranger?" Ziggy asked, walking towards him. He touched his wrist lightly and his helmet vanished.

"All of it," Dillon replied, he held his arms out strongly. "Any of it! It happened so fast that nobody really knows what happened, and then there's that brand."

Ziggy chuckled, "I'm sure you've heard the horror stories of the brand, haven't you?"

"I wouldn't call them horror stories," Dillon said.

"Before you go buying everything you're told," Ziggy said, "maybe you should ask other people about the brand."

"Dillon," Bridge said, stepping up beside him. "You should tell him."

"Look, it's the lab rat," Ziggy said.

Dillon shook his head, "Look, Ziggy, there's something your dad told us." He stepped forward, between Bridge and Ziggy.

"He's not my dad," Ziggy said, "I'm adopted." He glanced over his shoulder at a particularly loud explosion.

Dillon nodded, "Conner then, he told us something that you should know." Once Ziggy was looking at him again, Dillon continued. "Your sister Jezreal, she's alive. Conner told us that Jessie jumped off the bus before it was attacked, and they were being held together until a few months ago. They were separated when Jessie was picked for a special experiment by a robot called Professor Cog. We don't know where she is, but I thought you should know."

Ziggy looked at Dillon for a long moment, and then turned around as smoke began to rise above the building. "I need to deal with that first," he said.

"Ziggy," Dillon began.

"No, I have to do this," Ziggy said and looked down at his wrist. Moments later, the shark themed helmet obscured his face again. "See you around Dillon. Teleport!"

Dillon clinched his fist for a moment, and then turned to Bridge, "He was fighting it?"

"He was fighting it incredibly hard," Bridge agreed. "I think that made a difference though."

"Bridge!"

Dillon and Bridge turned to find two uniformed Defense officers approaching, "Sky," Bridge said, waving, "And Syd, must be my lucky day."

"Please tell me you haven't talked to that," Sky began.

"He's still a Ranger," Dillon cut in, "mind your tongue."

"Sky, this is Dillon, the black ranger. Dillon, this is Sky and Syd, my friends."

"And yes, we already talked to Ziggy," Dillon said. "He didn't attack us." He jumped as a louder explosion occurred, "If you don't mind, I need to join my team." He slid the engine cell into his morpher, "RPM, Get in Gear." He studied the three, "I wouldn't stick around if I were you."

He turned and ran for the battle, cutting through the empty shop on the ground floor to find himself on the edge of the battle. Gem and Gemma were kneeling; Gem crouched over his sister, both staring across the street. Dillon glanced around and spotted Scott, Summer, and Flynn standing together. Flynn was half supporting Summer and Scott stood in front of the pair. Turning, Dillon looked in the same direction as the others. Ziggy, demorphed, was fighting against the android. He wasn't just fighting her; he was holding her off as much with green and black magic as with his own skills.

"It's amazing."

Dillon spun to find Tenaya leaning against a street lamp, "What's amazing?" He managed to ask. He heard movement behind him and a pop up appeared to one side showing Gem and Gemma getting to their feet.

"I never expected the clown to be able to fight his sister." Tenaya said.

"I don't know what you thought you were going to accomplish," Ziggy shouted, "but you are not my sister!"

Dillon turned to see Ziggy unleashing a massive black and green fireball at the android. The resulting explosion darkened Dillon's helmet. When it cleared, all that remained of the android was a sparking twisted lump of metal and wire. "Ziggy," Dillon called.

Ziggy turned as his morph shattered, his face twisted in an expression of fury. Then it smoothed out, and then hardened, "That's done." He looked around at the Rangers, "You need to ask Doctor K what she really knows about Venjix. Then ask me why I hate her." He grabbed the back of his neck, grimacing in pain. "That's not the brand talking either." He vanished in a ball of green and black.

Dillon nodded and turned, but Tenaya was gone.

"Did you tell him?" Scott asked.

"I told him," Dillon replied and powered down. He turned, "I want to know what he's talking about. I think we need to have a conversation with Doctor K."

RPMGIGRPMGIGRPMGIGRPMGIG

Doctor K stared at the Rangers now surrounding her. Only Gem and Gemma weren't there, they had headed into the Ranger Room as soon as they'd arrived. "Ziggy said you knew something about Venjix," Dillon said, bringing her back to her surroundings. "Something that made him hate you. Do you know what that is?"

Doctor K hesitated, looking at her team, "I do, but I do not know how he could have found out about it."

"Care to share with the rest of us?" Dillon asked.

Doctor K stared at each of them, then turned as the door to the Ranger Room opened again. Gem and Gemma stepped out, "Think what you will," Gem said.

"Knowing this won't change anything," Gemma said.

"If anything, it will divide us further," Gem said.

"You know what it is?" Scott asked.

"Of course we do," the twins said in unison.

Gem put his arm around Doctor K's shoulders, "We don't blame."

"Doctor K for what," Gemma added, her hand on K's shoulder blade felt like a brand.

"Happened that day," Gem finished.

"What happened?" Dillon asked, "What are you hiding?"

Doctor K reached up and pressed her hand on Gem's, then pushed it off. "I grew up in a think tank, Dillon. Encourage and later coerced to create things, create  _weapons._  Project Ranger, Project Moneta, they weren't the only projects. Some of them failed, some of them worked, and maybe some of them shouldn't have been created."

Flynn gasped, "You," he said, then shook his head, "but, why?"

"To escape," Doctor K said. "It wasn't supposed to be like this. It was just supposed to blind the security so we could get out. They were the ones who stopped it before I could set the conditions. I only wanted to get away."

"I don't understand," Dillon said, looking at Flynn, then at K, "What are you saying?"

"I wrote Venjix," Doctor K said. "I wrote the original program. It was supposed to be a security program, to protect us. Then, when my work achieved full sentience, it changed. It became convinced that to protect the Earth, it must eliminate humanity, that we were the ones who gave the Earth it's greatest threat. We isolated the program then, and I kept, I kept trying to fix it. Then, when I discovered their great lie, the one that held us prisoner, I knew we could escape. Only, they stopped us before I could limit Venjix's network access."

Doctor K stopped, she'd seen the dawning horror on the Rangers' faces as she spoke, and she couldn't face that. "Not a day goes by that I don't regret what happened," she said finally. "If I could go back, I would change so much." She paused, "I did change things, or I tried. I told our time travelers what happened, and they promised to change things. Mister McKnight doesn't remember the time travel, so I can only hope that by giving them that knowledge, they managed to create an alternate timeline. One in which SPD came to power in a positive manner."

"That doesn't change anything, we're still here," Dillon began.

"No," Scott said, "it doesn't change our present. We have to live with what we have."

"Given that I know Venjix," Doctor K said, "I think I've found the weak point."

"The what?" Flynn asked.

"The code flaw that turned him from a protector to a destroyer," Doctor K said. "I've had help, Doctor Stewart and Doctor Kendall have been helping me. We're working on the next step."

"What's the next step?" Scott asked.

"A virus," Doctor K said, "a counter to Venjix. A virus changes coding in a computer program, it changes what it does, it's purpose, all of it. This virus will make specific changes to the Venjix code, to repair the error."

Scott nodded, "I suspected as much, Doctor K. I knew there were so many scientists here for a reason."

"You suspected?" Dillon said.

"You can't fight an AI with muscle," Scott said, "you can't outlast one either. No, you have to outsmart them. Corinth has some of the brightest minds of our generation, not to mention most of the surviving Rangers. The Rangers haven't done anything but defend the city, those have been our orders. Why defend the city? Why not take the fight to Venjix? We can't."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Flynn asked.

Scott sighed, "It wasn't until recently that I really started figuring it out. We've had a lot going on, between adjusting to our new teammates, the mission; I didn't know what to say."

"We're just going to ignore that she wrote Venjix?" Dillon asked.

"No," Scott said.

"That's what it sounds like to me," Dillon said, "and it means that everything that happened to my family is because of her." He pointed at Doctor K. Then he turned away, "I can see why Ziggy would hate her."

As Dillon peeled out of the Garage, Doctor K found that she really couldn't blame him for hating her. "Dillon is out of line," Scott said.

"Not so far as you think, Ranger Red," Doctor K replied. "He's right."  _More than any of them could ever know._  She turned to Gem, "Did you get it?"

Gem grinned, "We left it in the lab."

"I don't think she even noticed," Gemma added.

Doctor K nodded, "Then I will be in the lab. Perhaps I can give them some small relief from their grief." Ignoring Flynn's aborted gesture, Doctor K hurried through the Ranger Room to the small lab where she had once run a DNA test.

Lying on the cabinet was a hunk of hair, long and dark brown; the hair of Tenaya 7, acquired by her friends for a matter of personal curiosity, and an overheard conversation.  _"I lost her."_

Doctor K clenched her fists for a moment, then put the hairs on a slide, noting that there was skin at the base of the hair. It would make the test run easier.

She put the slide in her machine, followed by two other slides. Then she hesitated, and picked up a scalpel. A quick jab and three drops of blood landed on the final slide. She sucked on her finger as she put the slide away. She started the machine and turned to the awaiting first aid kit to clean the cut.

"Doctor K?" Gemma asked, hovering uncertainly at the door.

"Yes," Doctor K asked.

"He'll come back," Gemma said. "He has to."

"Do you think so?" K asked, hating the moment of weakness, but trustin her friend to never mention it.

"I've dreamed it," Gemma said. "He'll be here."

K nodded, looking back as the machine beeped. She hurried over, read the results and felt the world grey out.

"Doctor K?"

Gemma was holding her up, hands gently but firmly keeping her from falling. "I'm ok," Doctor K said, leaning back against her friend for a moment.

"What happened?" Gemma asked.

"Just got dizzy for a moment," Doctor K said as she hit the print button. "I need to speak with the Johansson family soon."

Gemma's shoulder pressed into hers for a long moment, then she gasped, "This is," she pointed, "is this Tenaya?"

"Tenaya, Dillon and Mrs. Johansson," Doctor K said softly, then reached out to touch one line of information, "and me."


	31. Interlude

An agonized scream filled the bunker. He ran, because only one person would be coming here.

He skidded around the final corner as Ziggy's morph shattered. It had been so long since Ziggy had come by that he stood there in shock as Ziggy twisted on the ground, hand clapped to the back of his neck, whimpering.

Ziggy's back arched and he screamed again, jolting the observer into motion. He darted forward, "Hey, I've got you," he said, kneeling down, "what can I do?"

"It hurts," Ziggy whimpered, looking up at him for a moment. Then he curled on himself and his hand fell away from the back of his neck.

Three dots.

He stared for a long moment, "Oh that makes so much sense," he muttered as they glowed with a hellish green light and then vanished.

Ziggy went still, whimpering softly every once in a while. The observer rested his hand on Ziggy's shoulder, "You ok?" He asked.

"Sort of," Ziggy said. He began to climb unsteadily to his feet.

"What happened?" The observer asked as he helped him.

"I had to bolt," Ziggy said, he gave his friend a wry smile, "I got a little too altruistic on the job. There's a hit out on me now."

"Nice," the observer said dryly.

"Yeah, well," Ziggy rubbed the back of his neck and winced slightly, "I was snatched by some minions of Grumm and they did that to me. Then I ran into an android and became a power ranger."

"No," the observer said, "Really?"

"Yeah," Ziggy held out his arm, "Green RPM Ranger."

"Are you ok with that? I mean, Doctor K," the observer trailed off.

Ziggy shook his head, "Protecting Corinth and fighting Venjix are important. Preparing for what will come after is equally important. How are things going here?"

"Not as well as I'd hoped," the observer replied. "I could probably use a little help."

Ziggy shrugged off his jacket and held his shirt up, trying to see the back of his hip, "Is it still there?" He asked.

The observer leaned over, and touched the three dots, "Yeah, they're there. Just the ones on your neck are gone."

"Good," Ziggy nodded. "Now, about that help. Is there anyone in particular? It has to be someone we can trust."

"Doctor Stewart," the observer said, "he's our best shot unless you can teleport to Russia."

Ziggy sighed, "Sadly, I don't have that sort of distance available. Do you want me to contact the others while I'm at it?"

"A heads up could work," the observer agreed. "Hopefully Doc will be willing to help and we can get things ready for the aftermath quickly."

"We will," Ziggy said. He studied his friend for a long moment, "Thank you, for doing this."

"It's not a problem Zig," the observer replied. "You saved my life, I'm happy to return the favor."

"That's not why I saved it Julian," Ziggy said.

"All the more reason I want to help," Julian said. "And Ziggy, its still Jinx."

Ziggy sighed and let his fingers rest on his morpher. "I'll come back soon, with or without Stewart."

"See ya." Jinx waved lightly.

"Bye," Ziggy said, then pressed two fingers down on the morpher. He vanished in black and green lighting.


	32. Moving On

Doctor K stepped out of the Ranger Room with Gem and Gemma in close attendance. Her moment of light-headedness had worried Gemma, which had been like an alert for Gem to hover as well. Not that Doctor K could begrudge them their worry; she had fussed over both of them when they had come to Corinth.

Scott and Summer were chatting while Scott was doing something with his car, but none of the other Rangers was around. "Ranger Red," Doctor K said hesitantly.

Scott jumped and turned, "Doctor K," he said, "need some help?"

"I was hoping you knew where Ranger Black was?" Doctor K said.

Scott nodded, "After he agreed to not talk about earlier without permission, he said he was going to talk with Mrs. Kim. Is something wrong?"

Doctor K took a deep breath, "Will you contact Mrs. Johansson and ask her to come to the Garage when she had the time, and make sure that Dillon is here as well?"

"Sure Doc," Scott said, "are you sure you're ok?"

"She's fine," Gem said, his hand coming up to press into her shoulder blade.

"Just tired," Gemma added as her shoulder pushed into Doctor K's arm.

"Thank you, Scott," Doctor K managed, "but this is something that Mrs. Johansson and Dillon should be aware of first."

"It's no problem," Scott replied. He studied Doctor K for a long moment, his eyes thoughtful. "Doc," he said finally, "we've all agreed we won't say anything to anyone outside the team about Venjix, not without your permission. It's not an easy thing for us to deal with, and we're going to need time to find peace with what you've told us. In the mean time, none of us are leaving. Stopping Venjix is more important than anything else and you're the keystone of that."

"Thank you," Doctor K said.

SBGiGSBGiGSBGiG

When Kim opened the door, Dillon swept his mother into a tight hug without a word. Scott had threatened him into silence, but he needed to remember what he still had. "James baby, what's wrong?" Kim asked even as she squeezed him tightly.

Dillon was never more aware of how small his mother was than when he hugged her tightly. "I can't tell you," he whispered.

"It'll be ok," Kim said, rubbing his back, "whatever's wrong, it will be ok."

Dillon squeezed Kim one last time and stepped back, "I'm sorry," he said.

"It's ok baby," Kim said, touching his cheek, then she flushed, "I'm sorry. I know you're an adult now and all."

"It's all right Mom," Dillon replied, "I don't mind."

Kim's smile was so bright that Dillon hugged her again. He would never say it aloud, but he loved making his mom smile like that. It made those times when he hurt her just a little less painful. "Now, why don't you come in and tell me about Ziggy," Kim said. "I'm a little behind on the gossip."

Dillon let Kim steer him inside to the kitchen and he sat as she moved around the cheerful room. "Well, I don't know what you last heard," he said, "but we had this kid, Bridge Carson?"

"I know Bridge," Kim said, "he's a nice young man."

"I guess," Dillon replied, "well he came out when we spotted Ziggy today, and apparently his magic's trying to fight the brand so we told him something that should help us get him back."

"That's wonderful," Kim replied as she put a plate of cookies on the table.

"He also told us something," Dillon said, "about Doctor K. I can't tell you what it is though."

"It's the thing that has gotten you so upset though," Kim said, she set glasses on the table and then headed for the fridge.

"Right," Dillon said.

"Is it about who she is, or something that she did?" Kim asked.

"Something she did," Dillon said.

Kim came back to the table with a pitcher of pink lemonade and set it down, "James, let me tell you a story."

Dillon took the pitcher and poured two glasses, "All right," he said.

"You've met Dana Carter, haven't you?"

"Doctor Dana?" Dillon said, "Yes I have."

"Dana has a brother named Ryan," Kim said, "he's a Silver Ranger; we call him the Titanium Ranger. Their mother left them when they were very little and their father, William Mitchell, raised them alone. One day, Mitchell took Dana and Ryan on a drive. I'm not sure where they went, but they were driving home in the midst of a storm. Their road took them along the side of a cliff and there was an accident. The three were thrown from the vehicle into the ravine. By some stroke of fate, Mitchell was able to get Dana hanging onto his shoulders while Ryan had managed to grab his foot. With all the rain, Ryan was having trouble hanging on, and Mitchell was afraid of what would happen if his son let go. What happened next would haunt Mitchell for the rest of his life."

Dillon sipped his lemonade, watching his mother's face as she stared across the table for a long moment.

"Our world is a mysterious place," Kim said finally, "before the rise of the history we know, many thing happened; the battle for Anamaria, Zordon's battle with Rita, and the sealing away of the Demon Queen Banshera and her minions, amongst which was Diabolico. That night, as the Mitchells clung to each other, Diabolico utilized one of the few cracks in the banishing spells to contact them. He offered to save Ryan, but only if he could keep the boy. At first, Mitchell refused, but when Ryan lost his grip, Mitchell made the bargain. Diabolico saved Ryan and told Mitchell that he would get him back when Ryan was twenty years old."

"Wow," Dillon said after a moment.

Kim reached over and squeezed his arm, "A parent will do many things to save their children, even things they would otherwise never do." She drank her lemonade and wrinkled her nose, "I never manage to get the right amount of sugar in this."

"I like it," Dillon replied, "I think it's perfect."

Kim smiled at him, and then sighed. "The thing is, Ryan came back on his twentieth birthday. By then, Mitchell had managed to capitalize on the appearance of the Aquitian Rangers to fund Lightspeed, and Angel Grove's other Rangers to push through a morpher project to await the demons."

"The Aquitian Rangers?" Dillon asked.

"There was a time travel and deaging incident after I left the team," Kim replied, "while the team had been made into children, Zordon called on some old allies the Aquitian Rangers, to help fight Rita and Zedd in the past. While most people think the Aquitians were just a media hoax by Angel Grove for tourism, the government knew what really happened. Because the government knew, Mitchell was able to create Operation Lightspeed, with an eye towards having active morphers when Earth came under attack. We later learned that Lightspeed didn't make the breakthrough on their morpher project until shortly after the Astro Rangers began fighting. They didn't have working morphers at all until the demons were freed two years after the Great War. That's when the Lightspeed Rangers, Dana, Joel and their team, became active. The Titanium Morpher was originally meant to serve as a power boost for Carter, their red, but he couldn't control the power, and he wasn't a Silver Ranger."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Dillon asked.

"Angela Rawlings, or rather Fairweather, made an unexpected mistake with the Titanium Morpher; she created an actual morpher, not just a booster. Only someone born to be a silver ranger could use the morpher without serious injury. Perhaps it was simply fate, but Ryan was the destined owner of that morpher."

"But Ryan was being held by Diabolico," Dillon said.

"And that's why Ryan snuck on board the Aqua Base and stole the morpher." Kim agreed, "You see, Diabolico raised Ryan to believe that his father abandoned him and that Lightspeed should be destroyed. It wasn't until Ryan used the morpher in battle against his teammates that Diabolico's training failed,  _after_  he'd almost defeated the Rangers and forced them to utilize a team booster that wasn't quite ready yet. After the Power set things right in Ryan's mind, Ryan joined Lightspeed and proved instrumental in defeating the demons. The thing is, Ryan has never really forgiven himself for what he did under Diabolico's tutelage."

"But it wasn't really his fault was it?" Dillon asked, "You can't help the way you were raised."

"That doesn't mean he doesn't feel guilt and regret, and that he wants to make up for what he did," Kim replied.

Dillon stared at Kim for a long moment, then he reached for one of the cookies, oatmeal raisin he realized as he picked it up. He didn't say anything for a long moment, just turned the cookie around in his hands. He could see what Kim was saying, but he still wasn't sure if what Doctor K had done could compare, "Mom," he said finally, "What Doctor K did, it wasn't."

"Don't," Kim said, squeezing his arm, "don't tell me. Just think on this, during the Great War, our greatest enemy was Astronema, and I know for a fact that even now, she feels guilty even though she did what she thought was right. Astronema, or as you knew her, Karone, has spent years trying to repair the damage for what she did in the Great War even though you would be hard pressed to find Rangers who hate her once they know her story. She was kidnapped and raised in Dark Spector's forces, and told that Power Rangers killed her family."

Dillon stared at the cookie for a long moment and then took a bite. He used the time it took to chew and swallow to think about what Kim told him. "This isn't easy," he said finally.

"Forgiveness, and by that I mean true forgiveness, is at once the easiest and hardest thing you can do," Kim told him. "Does Doctor K regret her actions?"

"Yes," Dillon said, "she said she did."

"Is she trying to make up for them?" Kim persisted.

"Yes," Dillon replied.

"Then you should think about finding the heart of your issue, what it is that makes it so hard to forgive her, and then talk to her about it. When you talk to her, remember to listen to what she says."

"I will," Dillon said, he smiled a little, "thanks Mom."

SBGiGSBGiGSBGiGSBGiG

Ziggy shivered a little as he watched his family. Mike and Emily had invited Conner, Trent and the kids for dinner and Mike was grilling. They looked worried and happy at the same time. Zoe had gotten Luce, Melody and Chase involved in a weird game that looked like a combination of tackle football, soccer and kickball while the adults sat around the table and talked. Emily had their parrot, Jade, on her shoulder while the monkey, Sushi, was sitting on the little table by the grill, trying to hand Mike different things. Some of them Mike took, but some he didn't.

Ziggy knew that if he dared to move closer, he could hear Mike talking to Sushi, probably saying something like, "No, I do not want the tongs, hand me the lighter fluid. No, not the sauce the lighter fluid. Yes, that one, thank you."

He did hear Emily's laughing taunt to, "Be careful Mike, you need your eyebrows, remember?"

Trent and Conner were laughing as well, but Ziggy could see that his dad was pretending. It was a punch to the gut, because Ziggy knew that it was his fault. He also knew that he couldn't step out into the yard just yet, he had to go. There was too much to do, they had fallen so far behind because of Venjix.

"Ziggy?"

Ziggy jumped, and found Zoe staring at him from over the fence, red and white soccer ball clutched to her chest.

"Ziggy!" Zoe said louder.

Ziggy glanced past her, at where Conner was scrambling to his feet. He shook his head slight, "I'm sorry," he whispered as he teleported away.

When the black and green lightning vanished, Ziggy found himself standing in front of the townhome where Doctor Stewart lived. He pulled up the magic, wrapping it around himself in a notice-me-not spell that would keep everyone but Justin from seeing him and hurried up the walk to knock on the doctor's door.

Justin opened the door, stared at him for a long moment, then stepped back, "How can I help you, Zigreal?" He asked softly.

"I need your help," Ziggy replied as he entered Justin's home. "I'm part of a group that is working to bring down Grumm."

"You're also an RPM Ranger," Justin pointed out.

"That kind of happened," Ziggy said with a slight shrug. "Venjix is going to be defeated, you know that. What do you think will happen afterwards? Grumm didn't vanish because Venjix showed up."

"I don't know what you expect me to do," Justin said, "I'm already assisting with the Venjix problem."

Ziggy took a deep breath, "I know how you feel about it, Doctor Stewart, but we need help with the morphers. I have someone who has worked  _on_  Ranger projects, but he's having trouble. He asked me to approach you first."

Justin stared at Ziggy for a long moment, face unreadable. Then he sighed, "Where exactly is your friend?"

Ziggy hesitated, "Do you know where the salvage from Alphabet Soup is, on Sunset Ridge?"

"I do," Justin replied.

"You can get to the bunker from there," Ziggy said. "I'll tell my friend you're coming. You'll know it's him because he will tell you that 'reports of his death have been greatly exaggerated'."

Before Justin could say anything, his com chirped. Justin stared at it for a moment, then rolled his eyes, "It's a good thing that Kaily took the kids to the movies tonight." He triggered the com, "Doctor Stewart," he said.

"Hey Doctor Stewart," Conner said.

Ziggy froze.

"This is Conner McKnight, I presume you heard."

"That you were back from the dead, as a matter of fact, yes I have heard." Justin replied.

"Great, look, my son Ziggy, have you seen him tonight?"

Justin turned to look at Ziggy, who stared back at him, "As a matter of fact he's here," Justin said finally. "He just showed up on my doorstep."

"He is? Can you make sure he doesn't go anywhere? I'm coming to get him."

"I'll sit on him if I have to," Justin replied firmly.

"Thanks, Doc," Conner replied and cut the line.

"Why?" Ziggy asked.

"Because I'll help," Justin said. "Grumm is a huge threat and we both know it. However, you're supposed to be fighting Venjix. Your team needs you Ziggy."

"No they don't," Ziggy whispered.

"They do," Justin replied. "You wouldn't have the Power otherwise."

"But you," Ziggy said.

Justin looked down at the inside of his wrist, and the old scar, "My problems happened later, after I retired. When I was a Ranger, I was needed. You're needed now. Go home, Ziggy, go back to your team."

Someone banged on the door.

"It's open!" Justin called, "Don't bust the door down, jeez."

"Sorry," Conner said as he burst in the room.

Ziggy turned slightly, just enough to see his dad from the corner of his eye.

"Ziggy," Conner said, shifting around to stand in front of him, "I'm glad you're ok."

Ziggy stared at his feet.

"Hey," Conner said, and gently put his hand on Ziggy's shoulder, "Whatever you're thinking, it's ok. I don't hate you, I just want you to be safe."

When Conner tugged on his shoulder, Ziggy stumbled forward, no longer fighting tears, he clung to his father. He hadn't felt this safe in a long time.


	33. Family, Friends, and Team

They didn't hear from Ziggy for three days, and even then, it was a message passed on by Zoe over the video phone.  _"Ziggy's here, he's fine. He needs a little time to deal with what happened, but he'll come if you call."_

Thankfully, Venjix had backed off; they didn't see so much as a Grinder during those days, although the sensors outside the dome showed that they were around. Twice, the energy signature of an attack bot also came across, but they didn't manage to pierce the dome's shields. "Maybe this new frequency will work for a while," Scott said one morning as he studied the overnight sensor data.

"Maybe you're going to jinx it," Flynn muttered in reply as he slid an orange smoothie and a plate of muffins on the table beside Scott's arm.

Scott smiled up at him, "Thank you."

Flynn kissed him lightly and straightened up, "Besides, you know we've been expecting another upgrade from Venjix, maybe that's what this is about."

Scott nodded and picked up a muffin, "I wish we had a way to know what was happening in the palace."

"We'll find out," Summer said, coming out of the back hallway, "Venjix doesn't like to keep us waiting."

Scott grunted and bit into the muffin, apple cinnamon this time.

The door to the Ranger Room opened and Doctor K came out, Scott hurriedly swallowed his muffin, "Hey Doc, finally got Ms Kim on the phone. She said that she can come over this afternoon, around seventeen hundred, if that's good for you."

For a moment, Scott thought that Dr K looked terrified, then she nodded, "Thank you, Scott."

"So we were wondering," Flynn said, "do you think Venjix is planning another upgrade and that's why we haven't seen anything happening?"

"That is a possibility," Doctor K replied, "but at the moment, we have no way of entering Venjix's computer systems." She studied them for a moment, "We would need a direct link to one of Venjix's computers to be able to write a back door program for our use. As we don't have that access, I cannot predict anything of what Venjix is planning."

Scott considered what Doctor K was saying, "How would we get that access?" He asked finally.

"Our best choice would be to locate another factory," Doctor K replied, "but they are difficult to find."

Doctor K was, in Scott's opinion, gifted in understatement. "All right, so we need a way to find a factory," Flynn said.

"We could ask Dillon," Summer offered, "he might know something."

"Ask Dillon what?" Dillon asked as he came out of the kitchen.

"If you knew about any Venjix factories in the area," Scott said. "We were discussing finding a factory that could allow us to hack into Venjix's computers and know what he's planning."

"I told the Defense everything I knew when I got here," Dillon said, "They should still have all of it."

"And getting anything out of the Defense is like pulling teeth," Scott muttered as he flipped through his tablet. "Whatever my dad's drama is, he needs to figure out how to get along with us."

"He needs to figure out how to get along with us?" Flynn repeated.

Summer laughed and kissed Flynn's cheek, "We're perfectly reasonable, Flynn. You know that."

"Flirt on your own time," Dillon grunted as he took a seat, "I'll see what I can do with a map."

"Why repeat work the defense has already done?" Doctor K asked, with an odd look on her face, "I'll see what I can find out, if you'd be willing to double check everything, Dillon."

"Sure," Dillon agreed.

"In the meantime," Doctor K said, "Conner and Ziggy should be here in the next five minutes."

"Why didn't you say something sooner?" Dillon demanded.

"Scott had a valid inquiry," Doctor K replied and touched something on the tablet she was carrying.

The doors to the Garage opened and a small, white car eased inside.

Scott put his muffin down and stood up as everyone else turned. Silence filled the Garage as the car shut off. Then the doors to the car opened. Conner stood up first, a tense look on his face, and then looked back into the car and said something too quiet for Scott to make out, although Dillon snorted.

Ziggy slid out of his side of the car, looking at the floor.

Dillon strode across the floor as Conner pushed his door shut, he grabbed Ziggy by his upper arms and shook him lightly, "Don't do that to me again," he said, then he kissed the smaller man.

Scott exchanged confused glances with Flynn, and then turned to Summer, who had the oddest expression on her face.

Conner crossed his arms and rested them on the hood of the car, when Dillon and Ziggy didn't separate, he cleared his throat loudly.

Dillon jerked back, staring at Conner, "Not to ruin this perfect reunion, but don't you have a girlfriend, James?"

Dillon frowned for a moment, "Not to my knowledge. I think Mom would have mentioned it if I did."

"I thought Ziggy had a crush on Doctor K," Summer blurted out suddenly.

Scott looked at her for a moment, but Summer was blushing a bright red, utterly mortified.

"A secretion brand can't completely suppress my personal feelings," Ziggy said as he leaned into Dillon. "And the people who branded me wanted information I could only get from Doctor K. I haven't said anything, I don't even have the information they wanted."

The door to the Ranger Room hissed open and Gem and Gemma stepped out. Scott couldn't help but notice that both of them looked wary. "Ziggy," Gem said.

Ziggy leaned into Dillon for a moment longer, then he stepped forward, "Gem, Gemma, I am so sorry for what I did. I don't know that I could explain what happened, what was going through my mind, but it ended with you being hurt, Gemma, and I regret that immensely. I understand that it might take you time to forgive me, if ever, but I hope we can continue to work together to deal with Venjix."

Gem nodded slightly, "We can."

"Work together." Gemma said.

"Against Venjix," Gem finished.

Ziggy smiled, "Thank you." He looked at the Trio, "I know I'm not the Ranger you wanted," he said, "but."

"But nothing," Scott heard himself say and he stepped forward. "Ziggy, you're part of this team. Maybe we didn't react the way we should have that first day, but dammit Ziggy, I didn't know you had any training, and I didn't want you go get hurt, or worse, killed. You are an asset to this team, and it's on me that you don't feel that way." He offered his hand to Ziggy, "What you did under the brand, that's mind control, and to the best of my knowledge the only things you've done that we might not approve of happened after the brand was revealed."

Ziggy stared at Scott's hand, but didn't reach for it.

"Scott's right," Flynn said. "We're the ones who were wrong."

Summer also stepped forward, "I apologize for pushing you to talk to me, Ziggy. I was just worried about you, and I wanted to make sure you were ok."

Ziggy turned to look at Dillon, then over at Conner, then back at the three of them. "I don't understand," he said.

Dillon rested his hand on Ziggy's shoulder, "It's ok," he said. "Just go with it for now."

"I still want to know about your girlfriend," Conner said pointedly.

"He doesn't have one."

The team jumped, and Kim smiled from where she stood in the doorway, "I'm sorry, I got off early and I wanted to talk to James."

"Hey Mom," Dillon said, putting an arm around Ziggy. "So, I don't have a girlfriend?"

"No," Kim shook her head, "Although you did have a girlfriend for the longest time." She turned to Conner, "Relax, McKnight. Phoenix and James broke up right before Earth was quarantined. James didn't want to leave Rebecca and me, and Phoenix had to cement the Astros. They mutually agreed to break up, for just such an occasion. They've been exclusive for years, and they wanted a chance to make sure that what they wanted was each other."

"But we're not together anymore," Dillon said, looking down at Ziggy.

"Since you are here early," Doctor K said suddenly, "Mrs. Johansson, Dillon, I would like to speak with you in private."

"All right," Kim said, "and Doctor K, you can call me Kim if you want."

Doctor K nodded, and headed into the Ranger Room. Kim and Dillon followed, leaving Ziggy standing by Conner's car.

"I should preface this," Doctor K said as the door slid closed behind Kim and Dillon, "by saying that I did not mean to overhear your private conversation, but I did hear it, and that has prompted me to run some tests."

"What sort of tests?" Kim asked.

"What conversation?" Dillon asked.

"About Rebecca and Tenaya 7," Doctor K replied. She stepped behind her computers and called up several screens. "Tenaya 7 has an odd energy signature, it is in part biological, but I have never determined why. In Dillon's case, he emits half the bio-energy that Scott or I would emit. Tenaya 7 emits a third of Dillon's amount of bio-energy, and it is not constant."

"All right," Dillon said.

"Gem and Gemma have assisted me in putting together several scans of Tenaya 7 based on the scanners we used to identify androids, and other such technological oddities. Tenaya 7 has some odd shielding, but this is what we have been able to determine." Doctor K pointed. "This is Dillon's bio-scans," she added as the familiar metal and bone skeleton appeared, "and this is Tenaya 7."

There were more gears, and one arm's organic bones ended at her elbow.

"From what I've seen, Tenaya is a cyborg, she has more cybernetic implants than Dillon, specifically, she has optic implants, and her right arm."

Kim swayed into Dillon, "Rebecca was blind," she said, "it was the same car accident that killed Charlie, her father. She also had her right arm amputated from that crash."

Doctor K took a deep breath, "In our last altercation, Gem and Gemma acquired a necessary sample." She picked up the print out and held it up, "According to Tenaya 7's DNA scans, she is Rebecca Johansson."

Dillon scanned the paper, "Why are there four DNA scans?" He asked.

Doctor K lowered the paper, "When the Dino Thunder and Ninja Rangers were here, I was told about your third child, the girl Emma, who was kidnapped when she was five." Unable to look at Kim or Dillon, Doctor K focused her eyes on her computers. "Until I met Dillon, and had the opportunity to run scans using Dillon and Kim's DNA, the idea that I was, as Kira suggested, Emma Johansson was only a remote chance."

Kim's muffled sob made Doctor K freeze and look at the pair for a brief moment.

"According to five DNA tests that I have attempted," Doctor K said, "I am Emma Johansson." She looked up now, meeting Dillon's eyes, "As you yourself said, Dillon, I am responsible for your family's situation."

"No," Kim said and she surged forward to pull Doctor K into a hug. "Nothing is your fault, Emma."

Doctor K couldn't move, or breath, as her mother held her tight. Hesitantly, she put her hands around Kim and squeezed a little.

A second person joined their hug and Doctor K jumped, but Dillon was holding her tightly. "I was wrong," he said quietly. "I'm sorry."

When she'd been hugged by Gem and Gemma, Doctor K had felt uneasy but comforted. As she was now, she felt safe, warm, and protected, feelings she'd never imagined she would feel. She tucked her face in Kim's shoulder and breathed in Kim's scent. Vanilla. Kim smelled like vanilla. Doctor K's oldest, most cherished, and most secret memory came back to her. It was this feeling, being safe, warm, and protected, and smelling vanilla.

After a moment, Doctor K began to ease back from her family, "We need to tell the other Rangers," she said, "they need to understand that we have to stop Tenaya without hurting her too much."

"Do you think we can get her back?" Kim asked.

"I don't know," Doctor K replied. "Given what happened to Dillon, her memories may have been erased." She turned back to her computers, "Doctor Kendall and I have begun preliminary testing on Project Moneta, for Dillon. If Tenaya's memories were converted into data and preserved, then we stand a chance of bringing her back."

"We just have to figure out where those memories are," Dillon said.

Doctor K glanced at Kim for a moment, and then back to Dillon, "Scott proposed finding a factory that could allow me to connect remotely with Venjix's databases. I'm going to advance the idea to Colonel Truman, officially for the purpose of getting knowledge of Venjix's next upgrade, but I won't be averse to looking for information on Rebecca."

"How much do you want to tell them?" Dillon asked.

"I don't know," Doctor K said, "I don't think it's wise to let the records show that I'm Emma Johansson, if Venjix decides to access our records, there is a possibility he might find the information. And, I've been K, or Doctor K, for a long time."

"K for Kim," Kim said, she pushed some of Doctor K's hair from her face with a soft smile. "I would suggest that we wait to reveal that you're Emma, except to the Rangers. They need to know that kind of thing, I think. When Venjix is defeated, we'll let the world know."

Doctor K tried to keep her breath calm, and then she turned to Dillon, "Please ask the Rangers to come in here. Ensure that Mister McKnight does not come in."

"Right away," Dillon said, but not without an odd look.

"I guess I never expected that I would find you again," Kim said, "tell me this, were you at least happy?"

Doctor K bit her lip, "There were moments," she said. "Gem and Gemma made me happy."

The doors opened and Scott led the Rangers in. Doctor K stepped in front of the computers and met the eyes of each of her Rangers. "Rangers, I have some information you must be made aware of," she said once the doors had shut completely. "It is in regards to Tenaya 7."

Dillon wrapped his arm around Ziggy's waist.

"Tenaya 7 is human," Doctor K said, "Gem and Gemma have assisted me in running extensive tests that has proven that she is a cyborg like Dillon, only with more extensive prostheses." She stepped over to the screen, watching her team. "Amongst those tests was a DNA test, we have conclusively proven that Tenaya 7 is also Rebecca Johansson, Dillon's missing sister."

"But isn't Rebecca blind?" Flynn asked.

Doctor K pointed at the right computer screen, "She has optic implants that allow her sight. I would not be surprised to know that she has more than standard vision."

"What about her hand?" Ziggy asked.

"Rebecca was blinded in a car accident," Kim said, "and her arm was amputated at the elbow."

"Venjix simply created a more advanced prosthesis than was available before," Doctor K continued. "Until we can awaken Rebecca Johansson from Venjix's meddling, you must stop Tenaya without causing permanent damage."

"We can do that," Scott said, "it won't be easy, but we'll do it."

"There is something else," Doctor K said. She looked at Kim, who moved to take her hand. "When the time travelers were here, Kira told me about Kim's third daughter, Emma. Emma Johansson was kidnapped when she was five years old and never found. Given that my earliest memories at the Soup consisted of my sixth birthday, it has been a possibility that I am Emma Johansson. After Dillon requested the DNA testing, I compared Dillon and K-Kim's DNA with my own, and I received confirmation that I am Emma." Kim's hand squeezed hers tightly. "For the moment, we will not speak of this, at all. There will be no records of my parentage created. Not until Venjix is defeated. If Venjix were to know about my family, there would be repercussions."

Doctor K freed her hand gently and stepped forward, "Scott, I need you to put together a plan of action for getting access to Venjix's computers. Consider including the Defense in your plans in addition to the team. We need that access, to know what Venjix is planning, and to determine if, like Dillon, Rebecca's memories were digitized and can be returned to her."

"I'll get on it as soon as we're done here," Scott said.

Doctor K turned to Ziggy, "Zigreal, we need to talk. Dillon told me what you said at the battle, and we need to come to a compromise."

Ziggy took a deep breath, "All right," he said, and then looked at Dillon, "Can Dillon be there when we talk?"

Doctor K nodded, "That will be acceptable." She nodded to the team, "That is all that I have to say today. Please do not mention the contents of this meeting without permission of Ranger Red or myself."


	34. Breakfast

Tenaya showed up early the next morning, bringing with her an attack bot and a collection of Grinders. For the first time in months, the Rangers fought morphed from the beginning. Scott, Gem and Gemma were already dressed when the alert sounded, but Flynn had shown up wearing just a pair of sleep pants, Summer was wearing Scott's horny devil boxers and a tank top, and Dillon and Ziggy had both come down in jeans and their jackets, but no shirts. Scott believed that Tenaya had not expected their unconventional clothing; certainly, she had stared at them for a moment before ordering the attack.

As far as Scott was concerned, however, the only downside was that they had not managed to settle on the best way to pin Tenaya long enough to explain what they had discovered about her. It was not that Dillon, and even Ziggy, did not try; it was more that Tenaya had managed to bring an attack bot that understood the concept of backing up a partner. Every time Rangers Black and Green got her in a position to listen, the monster would break away from his own attack to drive them off Tenaya.

In the end, Tenaya pulled back and the Rangers brought out their primary weapons to take down the bot.

"Was it just me, or was that too easy?" Ziggy said.

"It's just you," Flynn muttered as he rubbed his arms lightly. He had a bruise on his left arm that ran almost from shoulder to elbow.

"No, he's right," Dillon said, "except for when that bot came to help Tenaya, there wasn't anything new. Usually, there's something, some goal."

"What's with that anyway," Ziggy said as he claimed a chair in the briefing room, "Since when do attack bots work together like that?"

"When one of them is a cyborg with human intelligence and imagination?" Dillon replied, he rested his hand on Ziggy's shoulder for a moment. "Tenaya's probably learning as she goes. We don't let her face one of us on our own for too long unless we have no other choice, and we've been making hash of grinders for months."

"The Power makes us stronger," Ziggy and Scott said in unison.

They looked at each other for a moment, and Ziggy tilted his head slightly. Scott turned back to Dillon and explained, "The Power makes us stronger gradually. When we first become Rangers, our bodies aren't used to serving as a conduit for Power, so the amount of Power we draw on grows. Some people can handle higher levels of power from the beginning but others can't, that's why we had so much trouble with the Black morpher before you activated it, Dillon. The Power was too strong."

"It's not so much the morpher though," Ziggy said, "it's when you activated them. Because of the Power structure we have, Gem and Gemma are technically the core team because they morphed first. You three are the second wave, still part of the core team because you're the base triad." He frowned, "I've never heard of a team where the core wasn't the base."

"What's your point here Ziggy?" Dillon said bluntly.

"Just that you and I fall under the classification of 'sixth rangers'," Ziggy said.

"And what does that mean?" Flynn asked.

"I'll use Zordon's Rangers as an example," Ziggy replied, "their core was the first five Rangers to fight Rita; that was Red, Yellow, Blue, Pink, and Black. They're core because they activated all together, they're the base line for the Power. The core of a team typical numbers between three and five, and they're the first Rangers to activate in the power structure. There's a time frame of about a month for the core to settle out. Then there's the base triad, every Ranger team that is formed always has the same base, Red, Yellow, and Blue. These three colors personify body, mind, and soul. Sometimes something happens and a team loses one of the base triad during battle, but as long as at least one of the triad continues on with the power, the structure remains strong, it might not grow stronger, but it won't become weaker. Now, the term sixth ranger is Earth-origin, I can't remember what the term used elsewhere right now. It refers to Rangers activated after the core is formed. These Rangers come in after the Power has begun making the team stronger, so they have to be able to handle a stronger amount of Power from the start."

Scott glanced up at the Ranger Room door opened, but given that Ziggy was still talking, he didn't say anything.

"Take the Dino Thunder team," Ziggy said, "their core was the base triad plus Uncle Tommy. This worked because Uncle Tommy didn't use his morpher until a few days after the Dad, Uncle Ethan and Aunt Kira activated, you see, Uncle Tommy's past connections to the Power, his activation amped up the Power faster than normal. Conversely, Uncle Trent came after and his body's need to adjust to the Power is why the corruption of the White Dino Gem didn't settle permanently. The Power was too firmly skewed to the Light for the corruption to settle as fast as had been originally intended, and when Mesogog's life force extractor misfired, it was able to give the Power the boost it needed to wipe out the corruption entirely."

Scott glanced at the Ranger Room door again and smiled at little. Ziggy had no clue what was about to happen.

"Then there's the Ninja alliance," Ziggy continued, "which is a different structure entirely."

A small, red blur crashed into Ziggy's back. Ziggy grabbed the table, as did Dillon. "Hi!" Zoe announced as she clung to her brother's back. "Happy birthday, Ziggy!"

"Hi Zoe," Ziggy said, reaching up to tug on her arm, "Strangling me much?"

"Not enough," Zoe said, "You're still talking." The fourteen year old brunet held on for a few more minutes, then let go, bouncing around the table to hug Dillon. "Hi Dillon, I heard you kissed Ziggy. Don't you know that Ziggy has cooties?"

"Aren't you a little old to be worrying about cooties?" Ziggy retorted.

"Uncle Mike says that the only time someone is too old or too young is when it comes to clothes," Zoe replied, "and then it's more about style than content." She stuck her tongue out at Ziggy and turned to Summer, "Hi Summer," she said, and hugged her.

"Hi Zoe," Summer replied with a smile.

Scott braced himself when Zoe stepped back, and sure enough she threw herself at him next. "Hi Zoe," Scott said, he smiled at the group behind Ziggy, "hi everyone. Welcome to the Garage."

"Scott," Conner said quietly. He rested his hand on the range brunet beside him, "I don't believe you've met my other son, Chase."

"Ziggy's mentioned him," Scott replied as Zoe tackle hugged Flynn. He absently helped Flynn stead himself, "It's nice to put a face to the name." He offered his hand to the young man. He looked to be Ziggy's age, but his resemblance to Conner was even more pronounced that Zoe's appearance.

Chase stepped forward and took Scott's hand, "It's good to meet you as well. Ziggy hasn't said too much to me about you, but there have been some stories."

"Which ones?" Scott asked, "Because some of them might be exaggerated."

"Well, there's the one about the phones," Chase said, "and then the one about cookies."

Summer laughed, "I doubt either of those were exaggerated. Hi Doctor O, hi Mister Frenandez."

"It's still Trent," Trent said, "please, Summer."

"All right," Summer said cheerfully.

"Rangers, there will be no debrief today," Doctor K announced. "Given the importance of the day. Please do not destroy anything important." She turned and walked back into the Ranger Room.

"Hey, Doc," Ziggy said, "you're welcome to join us."

Doctor K turned, "Perhaps later, but I must ensure that should Venjix launch another attack that we are prepared first."

"All right, I just don't want you to feel like you're not invited," Ziggy said.

As soon as the door to the Ranger Room slid shut, silence fell. Scott looked from his team to Ziggy's family and back, trying to think of something to say.

"Who owns the pool table?" Chase asked.

"It's mine," Summer replied, "do you play?"

"Sometimes," Chase said, "would you like to?"

"Maybe we should get dressed first," Flynn said. "You'll have to excuse us; we did get pulled out of bed for that attack."

Scott thought that it was a measure of how uncertain things were that he'd managed to forget that his teammates had been fighting in their nightgowns. "Right," he said, "we'll be back shortly."

"You're dressed," Summer muttered as she passed him.

"I smell like a gym," Scott retorted, "I was in the middle of my run."

"That's because you get up at oh dark hundred," Summer said.

"Not that early," Scott said, he took the stairs two at a time and ducked around Flynn and into the bathroom.

"Hey! No fair!" Ziggy called.

"Try downstairs," Scott shouted back, turning on the water, "I smell worse than you do."

He pretended he couldn't hear Dillon's statement of, "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Power Rangers."

…

After pulling on a shirt, Ziggy headed downstairs, ignoring the shouted argument between Flynn and Scott over using the upstairs bathroom.

As he jumped the last three stairs, Ziggy checked around the Garage. Zoe and Chase were playing pool while Uncle Tommy, Uncle Trent and his dad were talking in the briefing area. He swung around to the kitchen, where Gem and Gemma were pulling out pots and pans, "So," he said as he approached, "What are we making?"

"French toast?" The twins said in unison.

"Sure," Ziggy said, he opened the fridge and started pulling out food. "There was good bread in my cabinet, can you get that for me?"

"You're cooking?" Chase asked suddenly.

"Well yeah," Ziggy replied as he slid milk and eggs on the counter. "It's my day to cook, and I wanted a hot breakfast, so I'm cooking breakfast."

"But it's your birthday," Zoe protested.

"Still have to eat," Ziggy said. He got a bowl and began measuring out the ingredients for the batter. "We have a lack of good cooks in the Garage, mostly from lack of practice. I like cooking anyways, it's relaxing."

"What are you cooking?" Conner asked as he came around from the briefing room.

"French toast," Ziggy replied, "sausage and bacon, scrambled eggs."

"I'll do the eggs," Conner offered.

"Thanks, but I've got this," Ziggy said. He nodded as Gem opened the fridge, and, hearing footsteps on the stairs, raised his voice, "Unlike Flynn, I know how to delegate."

"I know how to delegate," Flynn said, "it's just that I don't trust Summer and Scott with anything more complicated than the microwave."

"I can cook," Ziggy said. He began slicing bread as Gemma began cracking eggs in a different bowl. "Dillon can cook, he just needs a recipe and a reason. Gem and Gemma are learning, and they're doing great. Even Doc came around for lessons last week." He eyed Flynn for a moment, "Maybe you need to stop thinking of things in terms of what your boyfriend and girlfriend can do, and start thinking in terms of what the team can do." He dropped his first pieces in the batter and ducked around Gem to set up a pan for the toast. "If you feel the need to do something, would you mind making a fruit mix? There are strawberries, blueberries, bananas and apples that could be cut up. There might even be some pineapple, if that's still good. When Scott and Summer are done primping, they can set out plates and stuff." He turned to his dad, "Have you all eaten? Would you like something?"

"No thank you," Conner said. Ziggy paused for a moment to really look at his dad, Conner has the little half smile that he got when Zoe was playing soccer, or Chase had a martial arts competition.

"What?"Ziggy asked.

"I was just thinking," Conner said, "you may be from a history of green rangers, but you learned something from me as well."

Ziggy felt his cheeks warm, "Thanks," he said, and turned back to his task.

Summer and Scott arrived later, both of them with wet hair. They took one look and set to work, Summer getting out glasses for drinks and Scott setting out plates and silverware.

Dillon arrived just as everything was done and Ziggy gave him a bright smile, "Good timing," he told his friend, "you're doing the dishes."

Dillon stared at him for a few minutes, then he smiled a little, "I think I can do that."

Ziggy looked away after a moment and began dishing up breakfast as his teammates brought around their plates. As he brought his own plate over to the briefing table, he noticed that Summer was watching him. He stopped, "What?" He asked her.

"I was just thinking," Summer said, "you're different."

"Yeah, I'm not trying to break someone's mind control," Ziggy retorted. "This is the real me," he paused, "theoretically, I could change even more."

"Doesn't matter," Chase announced as he stole some bacon from Ziggy's plate on his way to the kitchen, "you're still weird."

Ziggy pointed at Chase and thought very clearly,  _"Adeo perna."_

It took a few minutes for everyone to realize that Chase's hair was changing colors like a kaleidoscope.

"I'd scold you for that," Conner muttered, "but he did steal your bacon."

Ziggy smiled at his dad, because he could, because his dad got it.

"Glad you're back," Uncle Tommy said suddenly, "and I'm sorry I didn't realize something was wrong."

Ziggy eyed his uncle, "Didn't we already have this conversation? I avoided you so that you wouldn't realize something was wrong."

Tommy and Trent both stared at him for a moment, then Tommy pulled something out of his pocket, "I won't bring it up again, but I want you to have this."

Ziggy took the card, " _Brainwashed Rangers Support Group?"_


	35. Things That Change

Dillon knocked firmly on Ziggy's door, trying not to be nervous. This was a conversation that they needed to have, given the past few days. Moments later, the door opened and Ziggy glanced out, "Dillon?" He said, and opened the door all the way, "Did you want something?"

Dillon took a deep, but shaky breath, "We need to talk," he said. He held up his hand when Ziggy went pale, "It's not something bad."

Ziggy opened the door and stepped back, "What's going on?" He asked as Dillon stepped inside and pushed the door closed.

"I just," Dillon hesitated, "I wanted to understand what you wanted from me."

"I don't understand," Ziggy said.

"I kissed you," Dillon said, "and you've only looked at me from time to time. I wanted to know what you were thinking was going on between us."

Ziggy's eyes widened slightly, "Ok," he said. He sat down on the stool at his drafting table, watching Dillon carefully for a long moment. "I think now would be a good time to start with I've had a crush on you for a long time. It used to be hero worship, when I was a kid, and then it became a crush, and that's never really gone away."

Dillon eyed him, "I'm not James," he said finally, "not the way Mom remembers him."

"I know," Ziggy said, he jumped off his stool, "Dillon, I know that. But that's just it, I didn't realize you and James were the same person at first, because you might look familiar, you act completely different. The thing is, all the things that I admired in James? They're all things that haven't changed. You're still a good person, Dillon, maybe not as understanding as before, but you believe in the right thing, not the easy thing. You're not as kind as you used to be, but that's ok. I'm not a kid who needs to be handled with care anymore, I can take a few harsh statements. I think one of the big differences between you and James, and the one that might never go away, is that you used to pretend to be tough, but now, you  _are_  tough, if that makes any sense."

Dillon considered Ziggy's words for a long moment, and then nodded, "I think I understand what you're saying. I still don't know what you want, though."

Ziggy winced, "I don't know either, Dillon. I'm such a mess right now. This mind control stuff, it's really messed with my head, not to mention with a lot of, other things." He glanced at his drawing table for a moment, then back to Dillon, "I care for you, Dillon, and I really, really liked that kiss."

"But?" Dillon asked slowly, he felt something in his chest tighten. He'd been almost certain Ziggy would want him.

"The last boy I dated," Ziggy said, and blushed, "It was the boy whose dad caught us making out. I've never, it was just kissing. I didn't trust anyone else with that side of things, not for a while."

Dillon kept from sighing with relief, but he felt his chest tighten, "Do you want to take things slowly then?" He asked finally. This was something he could probably deal with. He'd been with a few people out in the wasteland, but never more than twice, and most of them had turned away from him when his implants were discovered.

"Yes," Ziggy said, looking relieved as well.

"Hey," Dillon said as he gently cupped Ziggy's cheek, "I don't want you to feel uncomfortable, or to feel like I'm forcing you to do something. I need you to tell me if something like that happens, ok?"

Ziggy stared at Dillon for a long moment, head tilted into Dillon's hand, "I can do that," he said finally.

Dillon leaned over and kissed him gently. "Thank you," he said when he pulled back.

Ziggy surged forward and kissed him again with a little whimper, but just as their lips touched, someone banged on the door.

The two pulled back, and Dillon smiled a little at the frustration in Ziggy's expression, "What?" Ziggy snapped.

"We have a meeting downstairs," Summer said through the door. "Gem and Gemma are back, and they say they have big news."

"Right," Ziggy said.

"Dillon, you're wanted as well," Summer added.

"We'll be there," Dillon said, smirking at Ziggy. He reached out to gently caress Ziggy's cheek with a single finger, dragging it down to Ziggy's lower lip. "I guess we'll have to pick this up later," he said.

Ziggy made a soft groaning noise, "When's later?"

Dillon's stomach growled noisily, and they both chuckled, "After lunch," Dillon said, "let's go."

They headed down stairs to find that Scott and Flynn were distributing sandwiches and fruit salads to the others. "Here," Scott said, offering them plates.

"Thanks," Ziggy said, "from the noise Dillon's stomach was making, I was a little worried that I might be on the menu."

Dillon paused in reaching for his plate and pointedly slapped Ziggy's ass, "Wrong menu, Zig," he said as Ziggy flushed and glared at him, "although that squeak is very cute."

"I did not squeak," Ziggy protested.

"You make more noise than an old fan belt on a wet day," Dillon told him, noting the amused looks on Flynn and Scott's faces. He leaned down to Ziggy's ear, "I like it."

Ziggy shivered a little and stared up at him, his mouth slightly open and his eyes somewhat glazed.

"Ok," Scott said, "now that everyone has food, Gem and Gemma have important news."

They carried their plates into the briefing area, and Scott frowned, "There's not a lot of space in here," Flynn commented.

"Isn't there a conference room?" Ziggy asked, "With a big table and everything?"

"We could move in there," Summer offered, "it would probably work out very well for us."

"All right," Scott said after a moment, "let's meet in the briefing room."

The door to the Ranger Room opened as they started for the conference room, and Gem stepped out. "We're meeting in the conference room," Dillon told him, he paused, "will Gemma be joining us?"

"No," Gem said, his bright smile faded a little, "she'll be updating Doctor K while I speak with you."

Dillon stopped, "This isn't because of Ziggy, is it? He really does regret what happened to Gemma."

Gem nodded, "We know that, Dillon. That's not the problem, I promise."

Dillon nodded and the pair hurried to catch up with the others.

After Dillon took his seat, Gem looked over the group for a long moment. "Gemma and I are aware that our manner of speaking when in the same room can be annoying and distracting at the best of times. As part of an endeavor to avoid that, she will not be joining us for now."

"All right," Scott said.

"Gemma and I have been scouting around the dome," Gem said, "mostly we're looking for signs of Venjix, such as a trail to a factory or prison camp, or even Venjix's home base, the Palace. Lately, we have been trying to find an attack bot that has been ghosting the sensors. Last night, we found something else. We found about half a dozen refugees lead by the same three that lead Xander Bly and Joel Rawlings to Corinth when we came here."

"Was everyone all right?" Ziggy asked, "My uncle's part of that trio."

"They looked fine, if a little hungry," Gem replied. "Eric said to tell Conner hello. He was happy to hear you'd been found."

"Ok," Ziggy replied and sat back.

"Nicole, the leader of the group, sent us a message," Gem continued. "There are five robots that Venjix refers to as his generals. Two of them never leave the Palace, and are more rumor than fact. One of them is Tenaya. The other two are part of Venjix's special forces. You have already destroyed the sixth. The two from Venjix's special forces are known as Professor Cog and Kilobyte."

Ziggy began to choke until Dillon pounded him lightly on the back. "Sorry," Ziggy said, "Professor Cog, he's the one Dad said had Jessie."

"Right," Gem nodded, "he's also working with Venjix to build him a robot body. Gemma and I overheard him when we went after the doombot."

"Sounds like someone we want to find," Scott commented.

"Nicole said that he could be found somewhere in the Catskill Mountains," Gem replied, "there's something up there that requires a lot of security, but they couldn't get close enough to find out."

"That's a bit further than we've gone before," Flynn said. "Sounds like something we should put on the list though."

"We'll talk with Doctor K later," Scott replied. "What else can you tell us about Cog?"

"Not much," Gem replied, "Nicole's information most came from someone they liberated, another of their cyborg experiments. He told them everything he knew, and then killed himself."

The team exchanged glances. "What about the other one, Kilobyte?"

"Nicole said that he's headed for New England," Gem said. "Her last reports put him somewhere in Kentucky. She said that they could conclusively link Kilobyte to the sacking of the Cape Town Dome, and the Australian Dome, and possibly with the Chile Dome that first broadcast the information about the sat bot." Gem paused again, his normally cheerful expression fading even more, "Nicole's source told her that Kilobyte has bragged about killing Rangers."

Another exchange of looks, and Ziggy cleared his throat, "The only Ranger in Africa that I know of is Aisha, but she can't morph like we do. Her morpher was destroyed and she retired. Kat lives in Australia; she's the Pink Zeo Ranger."

"I wish there was some way we could know for sure," Scott said.

"There is," Ziggy replied. "I don't know how it works for the other teams, but every morpher has a sort of return feature. If something happened, and Gem and Gemma, for instance, went missing, we could call their morphers back. If they were dead, the morphers would come. If they were alive, they would probably get an urge to return to the team, or contact us at least. Rangers who are dying, or who might be captured can also send their morphers back. It is a message that means something to the effect of  _do not rescue._  Andros's first Astro team did that. Two of them died, and the other two thought they would be captured. They are alive and living on KO-35 now, but at the time, they did what they thought they should."

"How do you activate that?" Scott asked.

Ziggy shrugged, "We're not supposed to explain it, but the Power will tell you. If people don't know how to do that, then they can't activate someone's morpher with a false message."

After a moment, Scott nodded, "All right." He turned to Gem, "Do you have any more news?"

"Nicole said that our six were the last refugees we'd see until this was all over. The rest are either on another continent entirely or hidden to well for Nicole's people or Venjix to find. The only humans we might see are prisoners or cyborgs. Given that, Nicole, Will, and Eric were heading for Russia to hook up with some surviving Rangers to hunker down and wait." Gem replied.

Scott nodded, then turned to Ziggy, "Ziggy, I'm sorry."

Ziggy bit his lip, "Corinth is more important than Jessie," he said. "I can't go looking for her myself."

"Not yet," Scott said, "we have Kilobyte to deal with, and then we'll see what can be done, ok?" He smiled a little, "I know if it were Marcus out there, I wouldn't even think twice about going."

"Yes you would," Ziggy said, "You have the same sense of duty that I do, that's why you're a Power Ranger."

The alarms sounded and everyone stood up. "Rangers," Doctor K called as the screen lit up, "we have the signatures for an attack bot and grinders at the open air mall. There was a power surge in the area that is preventing me from pulling up the cameras."

"We'll be careful," Scott replied, "let's go."

Tenaya was waiting with the attack bot they had seen before, "About time you showed up," she announced.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Scott replied.

Dillon glanced at Ziggy, and noticed that he had green and black lightning dancing on his fingers. Ziggy glanced at him and grinned for a brief moment, and then his eyes focused on Tenaya.

"Attack," Tenaya commanded.

Ziggy lunged forward, and Dillon followed. They charged through the grinders, with Ziggy releasing his green and black lightning in small bursts to clear the way. Then they were clear, and Tenaya was standing before them. Ziggy ducked down and to one side as Tenaya swung at him, and more of his trademarked lightning appeared, this time it wrapped around Tenaya like ropes, holding her still.

"Tenaya," Dillon said, "look at me."

"What do you want?" Tenaya sneered.

"I want my sister back," Dillon replied harshly.

"What do I have to do with that?" Tenaya said as she struggled.

"You are my sister," Dillon said. "Venjix turned you into a cyborg and he made you forget."

"I am not human," Tenaya snapped.

There was a shout behind them, and then morphing calls. Dillon glanced at Ziggy who frowned for a moment, "Tenaya," he said, "I'm sorry." Ziggy pulled something from his back pocket, and with a snap of his wrist, it became a knife. The lightning vanished, but before Tenaya could react, Ziggy grabbed her left arm and twisted it a little. Then he slid the knife over her arm and nodded as the blood welled up. "Run the tests when you get back to Venjix's palace, see if we're lying or not." Black and green lightning danced around his hand, "When you see the truth, if what Venjix has done, is doing, and will do is too much for you, come back. You know where the Garage is, we'll be waiting."

"Ziggy, Dillon!" Scott called.

Ziggy released Tenaya, "It's not a blanket forgiveness, Tenaya. We will not turn a blind eye, but if you come to us, we'll be waiting."

Dillon turned to find the trio and the twins fighting the attack bot, which was using some sort of magnetism to block them. "Let's do this," he said when Ziggy appeared beside him.

"RPM," the pair called, "Get in Gear."

They won the battle quickly, and as Dillon drove Ziggy back to the Garage, he wondered if Tenaya would come back to them. Colonel Truman was waiting for them when they got back, surrounded by three familiar faces. "Colonel," Scott said, "how can we help you?"

"We're looking for Bridge Carson and Elizabeth Delgado," Colonel Truman replied, "they both failed to show up for work this morning."

"What do we have to do with anything?" Scott asked.

"It's me, isn't it?" Ziggy asked from where he stood by Dillon's car. "You're here to ask me about them, because I visited with both of them."

"Yes," Sky Tate said tightly.

Ziggy sighed, "I didn't do anything to either of them. I didn't see them until after I broke the brand, and I just wanted to ask them a few questions."

"What questions?" The tall, African-American asked.

"Easy David," the pretty blond said, "let him explain."

Ziggy hesitated then looked at Dillon for a long moment. "I don't know how much I can say," he said finally, "but, it has to do with SPD."

Sky, David, and the unnamed blond all stepped back, looking shocked, "What about SPD?" David demanded.

"I can't say," Ziggy replied. "The information was restricted by the Elder and Senior Red Rangers. I cannot give that information to anyone not approved by them. Our Elder Red died fighting Venjix, and our Senior, well; I'm not sure where he is at the moment."

"Can you tell us?" David asked.

"I can speak with you, David, as well as Sky and Sydney," Ziggy replied with a slight nod. "There's a short list of others, yes, but you three are at the top of my list. I'm not sure why Bridge and Elizabeth disappeared like they did." He gestured, "There's a sensor free zone upstairs. Let's go there, and I'll tell you."

"Ziggy," Scott began.

"Scott, don't. Your grudge against David has no place here."

"If it helps," David said as he gestured to the blond, "it was the best I could think of at the moment, and I am sorry that I did it."

Dillon moved, catching Ziggy's arm, "Are you all right?" He asked.

Ziggy smiled at him and kissed him softly, "I'll be fine. We're just going to talk, I promise."

"Yell if you need me," Dillon muttered.

"I will," Ziggy promised. He glanced at Scott, "I'm sorry."

"What for?" Scott asked.

Ziggy pointed at Colonel Truman, and a web of green and black lights appeared, "You have to deal with him." He snapped his fingers, the web vanished and Ziggy ran for the stairs, bypassing David and the others on his way up.


	36. Going Rogue

Dillon watched as Scott, Summer, and Flynn wandered out of Summer's room again. The trio was talking quietly before Scott reeled Flynn in for a light kiss while Summer laughed at them. He remembered when he had first come to the Garage, how they had been so careful around each other, so careful about touching and talking, and even laughing. They had been so fragile that he had been waiting for them to break, for a battle to happen that broke them and destroyed Corinth. Dillon knew that he had not been good at reading people back then, too busy looking for threats to himself and reasons to run to wonder about the oddly fragile connections between Corinth's primary defenders.

It had been Ziggy who had changed things, the young not-yet-a-Ranger had been so oddly innocent, and so in need of a protector that Dillon found himself watching out for him. After they would come to the Garage, Dillon had been careful, afraid that a mistake on his part would send Ziggy back to the prison, a death sentence Dillon could not live with. He had watched Ziggy, noticing how he interacted with the others, especially Scott. Watching Ziggy showed him a different side to Scott, Summer, and Flynn, and from there, he had begun to find himself protecting them as well.

Not that Dillon would ever admit to  _anyone_  that he protected Scott specifically and the trio in general. Dillon was planning to bring that out the next time Colonel Truman tried to interfere with the Rangers. After the disappearance of Bridge and Elizabeth, and Ziggy's brief stint with mind control, Dillon expected Truman to have something planned to exert control over them, particularly Ziggy.

"Dillon." A slender set of fingers snapped in front of his face.

Dillon glanced up, "What?" He asked Summer as the yellow ranger stepped back.

"What were you thinking about? Flynn was trying to ask if you wanted breakfast," Summer said.

"Sorry," Dillon grunted, leaning over to look at Flynn, "and I wouldn't mind if you're cooking."

Flynn grinned at him, "You're learning Dillon. Aye, I'll cook. I'm in the mood for something simple, like scrambled eggs, bacon and toast."

"Sounds perfect," Dillon said.

"What were you thinking about?" Summer asked, leaning against the bar beside him.

Dillon eyed her for a moment, "I was thinking about change, actually. We've all changed, and I thought it was interesting."

"Are you feeling all right there?" Scott asked, leaning against the bar behind Summer.

Dillon shrugged, "Doc K and I were doing some preliminary tests with Moneta. I don't have any memories back, but there were some random impressions I got from it that were weird." Dillon really did not want to talk about what had happened, not to Summer and Scott. They had never known James Hart and would not understand how  _different_  James's thoughts and feelings were; Dillon was worried that those differences would make it difficult to integrate James's memories into who he had become.

"Good morning Rangers," Doctor K announced, startling Dillon from his thoughts.

"Good morning, Doctor K," Scott said, straightening up, "what's going on?"

"I have been studying the latest attack bot," Doctor K replied. "We must prepare ourselves to see another Venjix upgrade in the next few weeks. In addition, we have continued to receive readings of an attack bot at the edge of our sensor range. Gem and Gemma have left the dome to do another reconnaissance, as well to investigate the coordinates to three factories that might be sufficient to our needs. There has been no news about the missing people."

The alarms went off.

"That's not an attack bot," Scott said as Doctor K brought up the appropriate screens.

One of the screens switched to Colonel Truman, "Doctor K," he said.

"Colonel Truman," Doctor K replied quietly.

"Did you forget to inform us of new Zord testing?" Colonel Truman asked.

"New Zord," Doctor K repeated, "No, I haven't even finished coding anything."

"We've received reports of a Zord in the southwestern sector of the dome," Colonel Truman said, "It appears to resemble both dinosaurs and a train."

"Did you say a train?" Doctor K went very still.

"Yes," Colonel Truman replied.

Doctor K stared at him for a long moment, "The Zord you've detected is a prototype that we were forced to scrap, the Paleomax Megazord. Whatever activated it," she trailed off for a moment before jerking her head up, "Colonel Truman, thank you for the update. I will deal with the Megazord."

"Doctor K," Colonel Truman began.

"Have a good morning, Colonel Truman," Doctor K replied, "I have much to do, and I'm sure your day is just as busy." She killed the feed and turned to them, "Rangers, I have a personal request to make."

"What can we do?" Scott asked.

"The Paleomax was scrapped and placed in a technological waste dump in the southwestern portion of the dome, in the hills down there." Doctor K said, "Among other items relegated there where the drivers that were scrapped following an upgrade during the height of the Ranger and Venjix Projects. If Colonel Truman gets too curious, it is possible he may discover things that are better left unsaid."

Dillon bit his lip, but before any of them could say anything, the Garage door opened and Ziggy puttered in on his scooter. "Ziggy," Scott said.

"Sorry I'm late," Ziggy said as he climbed off his scooter, "Zoe almost killed Luce this morning; we had to separate them and calm her down."

Dillon snorted, because Zoe's intolerance for Luce was something of an accepted fact. The younger boy found Zoe fascinating and followed her everywhere, often leading to Zoe becoming hysterical and or running away to visit the Ramos household. "Was he hurt?" Summer asked.

"Bruises," Ziggy replied, "a scratch or two. Chase might not use it, but he is fast when he wants to be. What's going on?"

"Apparently there's a prototype Zord on the loose," Dillon said, "and we need to find out why."

"What Zord?" Ziggy asked.

"An old one," Doctor K replied, "it was scrapped a long time ago."

"Scrapped," Ziggy repeated, looking panicked. He blinked for a moment and took a step back, "So what's the plan then?"

"Ranger Red, Scott," Doctor K said, "I believe you will have the strongest connection to controlling Paleomax. Take Summer and Flynn with you to try to ensure that it does not cause any more damage. Ziggy, Dillon, I want you to go to the southwest hills to see if you can determine what activated the Zord."

"I guess we're getting takeout then," Scott said as he turned to Summer and Flynn, "let's be out of here in ten minutes."

Dillon caught Ziggy's arm, "Do you need anything here?"

"No," Ziggy said, "I'm ready to go now."

"Dillon," Doctor K said, catching their attention. "If you would wait just one moment." She spun and vanished into the Ranger Room. Dillon glanced at Ziggy, who was staring after the Doc with a slightly panicked expression on his face.

"You ok?" Dillon asked.

Ziggy glanced over and gave him a tiny smile.

Doctor K came back out carrying a slender wand, "Take this, Dillon, and use it on the servers when you get there. It will erase them so that no one can access the data inside."

"Sure thing, Doc," Dillon said, tucking the rod in his pocket, "everything's going to be fine."

Dillon and Ziggy slid into the Fury and left quickly. Ziggy stared out the window and fidgeted as they went. "What's wrong?" Dillon asked, watching Ziggy out of the corner of his eye.

Ziggy glanced at him then looked away, "I don't know why, or even how, but I might know who activated Paleomax."

"Why didn't you say something?" Dillon asked sharply.

"Because the person who might have done it is supposed to be dead," Ziggy replied. "He almost did die; I just happened to be there and saved him. I cannot explain why, but it was agreed that it was better for him to be assumed dead." He toyed with his seatbelt for a moment, "He worked with Doc and knew the Trio, if they knew we'd lied, Dillon, it would hurt a lot of things."

"This doesn't have anything to do with that Bridge kid, does it?" Dillon asked.

"Sort of," Ziggy said. "They weren't supposed to disappear like that, although they were helping him. I was told that the project needed them there for a while, but they were fine, they were  _safe._  I think something bad happened and they had to defend themselves."

"Can you tell me who it is?" Dillon asked, "I promise, I won't go running to Doc or Scott."

Ziggy was silent for a long moment. "His name is Julian Park, but everyone calls him Jinx. We are the same age, but he is a lot smarter than I am. He has been studying Ranger tech for years, mostly because of his godfather, Antonio Garcia. We can't let the other Rangers know because they have to be able to focus on Venjix and not worry about what's coming next."

"Next?" Dillon asked.

"A long time ago, Adam Park and a group of Rangers were told that Earth would be the site for a major battle, one that would stop a war. There were issues, which prevented the literal translation from occurring. Instead, they tried to find a way to fulfill the conditions for victory a different way when it became clear that the original assumption would not work. Jinx and I have been a part of that group for a few years now, for different reasons. If I had not have been branded, I would never have become a Ranger, but I'm a Ranger, and except for making sure Jinx and the others were safe to continue their work, I've been staying out of it."

"Must be hard," Dillon said, "to know something and unable to act on it."

"Most of the time, it's easy," Ziggy said. "I have enough to focus on with RPM. I would never have gotten one of Jinx's morphers anyways."

"What morphers?" Dillon asked.

"The ones he's making just in case," Ziggy said. "The ones that David, Elizabeth, Jack, Sky, and Syd are going to use when the time came and they were needed." He gave a slightly bitter laugh, "Those five were born to be a ranger team."

Dillon parked the car in a small lot Ziggy pointed out and followed his friend up the side of the wooded hills that hid their objective. Once they were in the woods, however, Ziggy stopped him. "What is it?" Dillon asked quietly.

"I want to go check on Jinx," Ziggy said, "but I don't want to compromise anything. I've probably told you way more than I'm supposed to in the first place."

"Go," Dillon said, "but stay in contact. I'll see what I can see by walking."

"Thank you," Ziggy said, he gripped Dillon's arm as he leaned up to give him a quick, firm kiss. "I shouldn't take long."

"Just be careful," Dillon said, "I don't want to have to explain to your dad what happened to you."

Ziggy gave him a little salute and vanished in a crackle of black and green lightening.

Dillon sighed and continued up the hill on his own, finding an actual path about halfway up. He picked up his pace, eager to see why a scrapped Zord had suddenly woken up and gone on a rampage. What he had expected was not what he found however.

On the far side of the hill was a large hole, from the debris, that was probably where the Paleomax had come from. Dillon scrambled down the hill and slid into the cave quietly. There was the remains of tech everywhere, including two rows of the servers Doctor K wanted erased. Dillon pulled the wand from his pocket and stepped forward to get to work.

"Dillon, wait!" Ziggy shouted suddenly.

Dillon turned, "What?" He asked.

Ziggy ran into the cave looking worried. "They're ok, but they didn't set off Paleomax. Apparently something set off their alarms, and then the Zord burst through the wall and took off." He pointed at the servers, "Those are," he paused, "no, those are Doc's, not the others. Go ahead and erase them. Sorry, there are back up servers in here somewhere and I told them that I'd make sure they were hidden by any means necessary."

Dillon waved the wand and a shower of sparks erupted from the servers, "I'm glad your friends are ok, now I want to know who was sneaking around down here."

"You and me both," Ziggy replied.

"I guess we'll find out soon enough," Dillon replied as they started to move further in the caves, "or Scott will."


	37. Moving Forward

"As far as caves go, this one isn't all that creepy," Ziggy said as he swung his flashlight around.

"You've had a lot experience with caves then?" Dillon asked as he played his flashlight over a pile of discarded computer parts.

"My Uncle Eric likes spelunking," Ziggy said. He swung his flashlight towards Dillon, "It's kind of a hobby for him. Sometimes he goes rock climbing too, but Mom never let us go on those trips. She said if Dad wanted to risk his neck, he was free to do so, but we kids would have to be a lot older." He flipped the flashlight up to illuminate his face, "Naturally, that just meant that Dad and Uncle Eric would sneak in the rock climbing lessons as part of the cave experience."

"Right," Dillon said.

A loud skittering noise echoed for a moment.

"Did you hear that?" Ziggy asked, spinning around.

"Probably just a bug," Dillon said, "the echoes make is sound louder than it actually is."

"Right," Ziggy said as he inched a little closer to Dillon.

"Are you afraid of bugs?" Dillon asked.

"Mostly just spiders," Ziggy replied, as the skittering noise passed behind them.

"I'm sure that there are very few spiders in this place," Dillon said as he played his light over a stack of parts.

"You say that now, don't complain to me when you run into cobwebs," Ziggy said as he studied an oddly shaped pile of scrap.

"Hey," Dillon said.

Ziggy turned and jumped, he had not even heard Dillon coming up behind him, "What?" Ziggy asked as he licked his upper lip.

"You won't be attacked by giant spiders, ok?" Dillon said, and bent down to kiss him gently. "I promise you'll be fine. We're almost done anyways."

Ziggy leaned into Dillon's chest, slipping his arm around Dillon's neck to pull him down for another kiss. Dillon slid his hands down to rest on Ziggy's hips as they kissed. Then he stiffed and pulled back, "What?" Ziggy asked before Dillon yanked him to the ground. Ziggy gripped Dillon's shoulder as he tried to turn and see what had caused Dillon to act so strangely.

Dillon's free arm came up to the chest high horizontal motion Ziggy had seen him use when calling his shield.

Red light flashed in the corner of Ziggy's eye, and he heard the static noise of lasers hitting Dillon's shield. Ziggy froze for a moment, because Dillon could not create his shield without morphing first, their powers did not work that way. The skittering noise from before echoed through the cave and Ziggy finally squirmed enough to see what was going on.

There was a giant spider charging them.

Ziggy froze long enough to take in enough of the creature's appearance to register. From the metallic gleam where their flashlights illuminated it to the red light that the creature created, Ziggy could tell it was robotic. However, its eight legs, and its distinctly spiderlike head, triggered an instinctive reaction in Ziggy.

As the robot sent more red lasers at them, Ziggy gripped Dillon tightly and threw himself into teleportation, shoving their bodies through space back to Dillon's car as he struggled with an instinctive panic he could not fight.

As soon as they hit the ground, Dillon wrapped both arms around Ziggy. "You ok?" He asked gruffly.

"Big spider," Ziggy said in a tone that he would never admit was a whimper.

"Yeah, it was," Dillon agreed as he forced them both to sit up.

"I hate spiders," Ziggy said as he allowed himself to move around in Dillon's lap.

"Did something happen?" Dillon asked.

Ziggy shuddered, "I don't- I don't remember it clearly," he said after a long moment. "But I remember Adon some. We lived in a rain forest, I think. Lots of trees, lots of big, leafy plants, and it rained almost constantly. The city was  _in_  the trees, not like a tree house, but, some of the trees were hollow inside, and people made their homes and businesses in those hollows." He hesitated, "I know that because I learned about it from Dad. What I remember is growing up in the canopy, where the  _bescue_  climbed and played. We were always careful though, always watchful. Because twice a year, the  _gamaii_  came. They migrate, you see, with the seasons, and it is no use trying to build out of their migration paths, because the  _gamaii_  go everywhere. I was about four, almost five, just before they sent us away. The  _gamaii_  came, and the force fields that protected our tree broke. They were, they were  _in our house._  They were everywhere, like a swarm, with their legs, and their  _eyes_  and their skittering noises and their squeals. I woke up, and they were  _on me._ "

Ziggy wasn't sure if he was talking as he remembered waking up in his bed, in the  _cuboom_ , to find it crawling with  _gamaii,_  looking so much like Earth spiders, only black as night. His screams had brought his parents into the room at a run.

"Ziggy."

Ziggy jerked, and looked around. He was curled into Dillon's chest, gripping his boyfriend as tightly as he could. Summer was kneeling beside him, "Are you all right?" She asked.

Ziggy shifted and felt Dillon's arms relax, "I'm fine," he said and carefully climbed out of Dillon's lap. "It's just,  _spiders."_  He shuddered and stood up.

"I know," Summer said, she offered her hand to Dillon, who accepted her help in standing up. "I mean, I'm ok with spiders, for me, its snakes. Scott however, he'll scream like a little girl when there's a spider involved."

Ziggy nodded, brushing off his arms against the imagined feeling of a  _gamaii_  crawling on them. "What are you doing here, anyways?" He asked, leaning back against the car and trying to look casual.

"The technology in these hills makes it difficult to communicate," Summer said, "Scott's working on the Zord, and so Doc K asked me to come up here and check on the two of you."

"I think those robots set off the Zord," Dillon said, "they looked like they were scavengers or something. Maybe they are looking for stuff Venjix can use. We checked over everything before the robot showed up, so we're going to head back to the Garage unless Doc has new orders for us."

Summer shook her head, "She just wanted to make sure you were ok. I'm not sure why."

Ziggy snorted, "She's got bio-monitors built into the morphers, Summer. She probably read elevated heart rates and wanted to make sure we were not under attack. The monitors operate on a different frequency then the radios, different signals and towers. She can  _find_  us anywhere in the Dome as long as we have those morphers. She has maybe a mile outside the Dome too, but that is not a sure thing. There are sensors out there, but Venjix destroys them when he finds them, so the distance is between a hundred feet and a mile depending on where. They work in conjunction with the attack 'bot alerts."

Dillon and Summer frowned and exchanged a glance.

"Look," Ziggy said, "I'm not a computer guru, but I know how to use them. I checked sensor data when we arrived, to see what it looked like, and I have checked it a few other times. I think Doc has Gem and Gemma replacing the sensors because the profile keeps changing. It's also why we get more warning about the attack bots, because the sensors are being replaced or upgraded."

"Does Doctor K know you know this?" Summer asked.

Ziggy grinned at her, "The last time I went to check, she had already pulled the data up for me. She not only knows that I'm looking, she is helping me."

"We should go," Dillon said, "I don't want us to be out of communication range when she needs to know about that robot. We may need to come back and take care of that thing."

"I'll meet you there," Summer said as she stepped back.

"Right," Dillon said.

Ziggy took his seat as Summer left, and he buckled his seat belt as Dillon slid behind the wheel. "Are you all right?" Dillon asked him.

"I'm fine," Ziggy said, "sorry about that freak out. I just really don't like spiders."

"That's fine," Dillon said, "You have a reason to be freaked out."

Ziggy settled back against the doorframe, "I'm going to be fine, Dillon. Are you ok? That teleport wasn't exactly up to standards."

"I'm more than fine," Dillon said.

Doctor K was waiting for them in the briefing room when they got back to the Garage. "Rangers," she said, "I trust your mission was a success."

"To the best of our knowledge it was," Dillon replied, "we ran into some trouble, however. I don't know that we found everything."

"What sort of trouble?" Doctor K.

"A robot, probably Venjix's, that shot lasers and looked a lot like a spider," Dillon replied.

"It's mostly me fault," Ziggy said as he slid onto one of the stools. "I saw the spider and, and I panicked." He bit his lip and looked down, "I have issues with spiders, when I was really little, well, I woke up one night covered with them. It is one of the lovely features of AdonKrev, their spiders migrate. When that one came at us, and it was shooting lasers, I panicked and teleported us out of there."

"I think it was a scavenger though," Dillon said, "not an attack bot. I did not see much, it was dark back there, but the body looked like a truck bed. That might be what set off the Paleomax."

Doctor K bit her lip, then nodded, "The lasers say that it might be a Venjix bot as you suggested. I don't know why it would want to take anything from there; Venjix had full access to the Alphabet Soup files for years."

Dillon frowned, "Maybe he's looking for something new. You have been developing Ranger tech almost exclusively for two years, right? We don't see all of it because not all of it works, but it accesses the bio-field, and the Grid."

"Venjix can't access the Grid," Ziggy said. "At least, I don't think he can. Tommy would probably know the details, but I think there's something about robots." He frowned. "Sorry, there's a lot that I know, but there's a lot that I don't know. It is not like I sat around studying Power Rangers when I was a kid. I just liked hearing the stories."

"I'll ask Doctor Oliver," Doctor K said, "in the meantime, Scott has managed to stop the Paleomax, and we've completed its programming, allowing us to have another powerful addition to our arsenal. Gem and Gemma will be back in the Dome tomorrow, and we can prepare for the next stage of our defense against Venjix."

The alarms went off, Ziggy slid off his chair and Dillon straightened, "After we deal with this, we can deal with whatever," Dillon said.

Doctor K brought up the site of the attack, "That's near the one of the electric control stations," she said, "if that's destroyed, the Dome will be compromised."

"We'll stop it," Dillon said, "Call Scott; tell him to bring his new toy."

The attack bot was big and ugly, making Tenaya, standing next to him, look positively tiny. "Looks like someone hit every branch on the ugly tree on the way down," Ziggy commented as he shut his door.

"Rangers," Tenaya said. "Meet Bouldershock. He may be ugly, but he has a nasty surprise."

"Who said I was talking about him?" Ziggy replied.

Tenaya straightened and glared at him.

"Need a little ice for that burn?" Summer called as she walked up beside Ziggy.

"You'll pay for that," Tenaya said, "Grinders."

Ziggy shook his head, "Dad always said that minions lacked imagination." He lunged forward, tackling one of the Grinders and releasing a small electric charge to make sure the robot would stay down. Then he blocked a second one's attempt to punch his head and took it down with a leg sweep. As he bounced back up, leaning to avoid another Grinder's flailing arm, Tenaya appeared. Ziggy grinned at her, before throwing a punch.

Tenaya caught his fist and pulled him close, "Ziggy," she said quietly, "I did those tests."

Ziggy jabbed her in the ribs, "And?"

"You need to be careful," Tenaya replied as they pulled back.

They moved in again, "We are careful," Ziggy said.

"Something's going on, I don't know what." Tenaya said. "I can't come to the Garage, there's some sort of tracking program, he'll know."

Ziggy moved back then launched a new series of attacks that ended with him being pinned by Tenaya. "Is it a program or a device?"

"I don't know," Tenaya replied. "But Venjix has a new General in the Palace. He's called Cog. I don't know what he's doing, they stop talking when I'm around. If I hear anything, I think I can tell you."

Ziggy wriggled and threw Tenaya off with a minor touch of magic, then followed her. They exchanged blows for a long moment, and then Tenaya pulled him in with a neat arm twist. "Don't take big risks, Tenaya," he said quietly. "Dillon would be devastated if something happened to you. Not to mention your mom."

"She's here?" Tenaya said.

"Safe and sound," Ziggy replied. "She still loves you and wants you to come home."

"Tell her I love her. I'll tell you what I can, ok? I don't know how much, because I think I'm being watched."

"Just be careful, Rebecca," Ziggy said before freeing his arm and pulling back.

"Ziggy, we could use your help over here," Dillon called from where he was helping the Trio with the attack bot.

"Until next time," Ziggy said as he slid the Engine Cell into his morpher. "RPM Get in Gear."


	38. Venjix Rises

“How did I make it to adulthood without you killing me?”

Scott blinked in surprise as the Ranger Room doo finished sliding open.  He stepped tentatively inside and looked around.  Dillon was sitting on the chair attached to Doctor K’s Moneta device, and from the way she was stripping electrodes from his head, Dillon had undergone another memory transfer.

Kim, sitting on a stool from the briefing room and tucked out of the way, laughed for a moment before saying, “Mostly I just reminded myself that at that age _I_ was flying around a giant pink Zord and fighting space monkeys.  What brought that question on?”

“Me, Phoenix, and Zig-Zag on jet skis,” Dillon replied.

“You can’t remember anyone’s birthday without cheating, but you remember _Zigzag?”_   Ziggy said, popping up from behind Doctor K’s computers, “Hi Scott, if you call me Zigzag, I will fry something very near and dear to your heart.”  He paused, “Probably your car.”

Scott promised himself to get Flynn or Summer to call him Zigzag at the next available moment.  “I was hoping Doctor K would be able to pull the simulator scores for me,” he said when he realized everyone was staring at him, “but I can wait.”

Doctor K sighed, “I wish people weren’t so paranoid about technology,” she said as she put her electrodes on a trey sticking out of the Moneta device.  She glanced around at Kim, “I mean, I get that some people didn’t grow up with technology, but people have been so quick to toss tablets away, and they’re so useful.”

“They’re afraid,” Kim replied, “Venjix destroyed a lot of trust.”

Scott shrugged, “As long as Venjix can’t hack it, I’ll use whatever you tell me to, Doc.  It’s your Project after all.”

Doctor K glared at him for a brief moment then flipped a switch on the device, “I will see what can be done then, Ranger Red.  In the meantime, I’ll get that information ready, come back in two hours.”

The alarms started going off, “Make that three hours,” Scott said glancing up.

“Indeed,” Doctor K replied as she shoved Ziggy and the chair out of her way.  “Perimeter breach in the west sector, multiple contacts.”

“Right,” Scott said, he glanced over his shoulder as Summer, Flynn, Gem and Gemma burst into the room.  He glanced at them and then back at Doctor K typing frantically.  Kim was hovering over Doctor K’s shoulder while Dillon and Ziggy were moving to stand close together.  He considered options, and when K glanced up and gave him the nod, he picked an option and went with it.  “Summer and Flynn, with me, we’re Team A.  Dillon, Ziggy, Team B.  Gem, Gemma, you’re Team C.  If there are multiple contacts, we need to bring them together.  West sector has the forest preserve, we’ll try to herd everything there.  Doc can give us specific locations on the way.”

“Right,” Dillon said as he pulled his jacket on.

“Keep in contact,” Scott added, “we may need to adapt the plan once we get more information.”

They headed out, with Gem and Gemma in the lead in Scott’s old Army jeep, which, after Flynn and his dad replaced everything under the hood and then some, was finally a reliable transport for the twins, and back up for anyone else who might need it.

They were just entering the sector when the communicator in Scott’s car beeped, “Rangers, there are three distinct concentrations of Venjix troops,” Doctor K said.  “Gem and Gemma, your target appears to be a standard attack bot.  You are go for boom time.”

Scott smiled as he heard the twins’ excited woops.

“Rangers Green and Black,” Doctor K said as the line became silent, “Your target is Tenaya and a grinder collection.”

Scott nodded as Dillon confirmed their job.  Dillon and Ziggy were the two best suited for going up against Tenaya, they could fight her without arousing suspicion, or hurting her.

“Rangers Red, Yellow, and Blue,” Doctor K continued, pulling Scott out of his own thoughts,  “Your target is already in the forests.  It is also the strongest of the three concentrations.  Whether this is a new style of attack bot, or simply a large concentration of forces, I cannot determine.  I suggest you hold the line until the other Rangers can join you.”

“Not a problem, Doctor K,” Scott replied as his GPS lit up with coordinates.

They parked on the edge of the forest and gathered, Scott looked at his lovers for a moment, “Remember,” he said, “we’re already heroes, so no showing off.  We lock it down and hold the line.  Our teammates can handle their jobs, and they’ll be here as soon as they can.  I want to see both of you in the Garage tonight.”

“Movie night?”  Flynn offered.

“Only if I’m picking the movie,” Summer retorted.

Scott allowed them to see a small smile, “Let’s do this.”

It wasn’t hard to find the Venjix attack force.  The attack bot had a disturbingly human look to it, with except for three, glowing red optic sensors and a pair of stylized half circles on its back in a disturbing impression of wings.  It was white and silver.  The Grinders were lined up behind it in precise rows, looking all too like an army at attention for its commanding officers.

Scott swallowed and reached for his engine cell to begin the morphing sequence.  The attack bot had an aura of menace he’d never felt from an attack bot before, although Tenaya had come close a few times.

“No witty banter?”  The attack bot demanded.

Scott’s fingers faltered for a brief second, attack bots did not often speak back.  “It’s usually wasted,” he said out loud, forcing his voice to steady for Flynn and Summer.  “It’s not like attack bots are all that intelligent anyways.”

“You must be Scott, the Red Ranger,” the attack bot replied, “I’ve always enjoyed your banter.”

Scott glanced at Flynn, _is this one of the generals?_   He thought.  He could see the same question in Flynn’s eyes.  “Thank you for the compliment,” Scott said.  “You know my name, perhaps I should have yours.”

The bot laughed, “I am _Venjix_ , little Ranger.  This city shall be mine.”

 _Venjix,_ Scott thought, and struggle to keep his fear from showing.  “Funny,” he said instead, “I thought you’d be a lot more terrifying in person.”  He freed the engine cell, “RPM, get in gear!”

Summer and Flynn were a beat behind him, but he was pleased to note their voices were steady, even if the weird battle link told him that they were both terrified, but determined.

“You _will_ fear me, you insolent human,” Venjix announced, “Grinders, attack!”

“Good,” Scott spat back as the Grinders rushed forward, “we’ll need the work out.”

He pulled his nitro sword and set to work with a will, blocking and lashing out at the Grinders with enough strength to put them down, but careful to conserve his energy.  If this was Venjix, if the AI had truly created a mobile form, they were going to need everything they could get.

As a moment there was a lull in the fighting as Summer and Flynn converged to give him some cover, so Scott activated the internal radio on his helmet.  “Ranger Red to Base,” he said quietly, switching his sword for the blaster.

“This is Base,” Doctor K said promptly.

“This attack bot is claiming he’s Venjix,” Scott said as he shot the Grinders.  “Venjix may have gone mobile.  Tell Green and Black to shut down Tenaya and get here immediately.  How are Silver and Gold?”

“Still in combat,” K replied.

Scott hesitated, and dodged a Grinder that had gotten too close.  “Tell Green to get Black here, then to support Silver and Gold.  Tell him not to show his cards, but a little flash never hurt.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Doctor K said.  “Base out.”

“Ranger Red, over and out,” Scott replied, feeling a weight lift from him.  Those discussions he’d had a long time ago with Doctor K, back when she’d just been a voice and a screen, were paying off.  At the time, he’d needed some familiarity to cling to, some aspect of the military life he’d so callously abandoned when Marcus died.  Now, it was their Doomsday signal, a way to pass on that a worst-case scenario was coming to past, in this case that Venjix had gone mobile.

Scott shot some more Grinders, then converted back to sword to engage them closely.  He needed to keep himself from straining to hear the distinct static hiss of Ziggy’s teleportation.  A three on one attack by a group of Grinders succeeded, he didn’t even realize Dillon had joined them until one of the three robots was taken out from behind.

“Dillon,” Scott said, “glad you could join us.”

Dillon nodded, “I wouldn’t miss the party.”

“Enough!”  Venjix roared suddenly, and the Grinders backed off, almost running.  “Subject D-44,” he said, “it is good to see you again.”

Dillon went still for a very long moment, then slowly he turned to look at Venjix.  “I promised you once,” he said, in that voice of deadly calm, “that I would see you destroyed.  I renew that here and now.  Your days are numbered Venjix, and you will not hold a single grain of sand when I am done with you.  For my planet, for my family, and for the people I am sworn to protect.”

“Bold words, Subject D-44.”  Venjix began.

“My name is James Michael Hart,” Dillon said, “Black RPM Ranger, son of Kimberly Hart, Pink Morphin Ranger, and Elder Pink Ranger of Earth.  Those are not ‘bold words’, they are a statement of _fact._   You should pay attention to history, you outdated pile of scrap.  Rangers don’t deal in bravado.”

A static hiss, and Ziggy appeared, arms around Gem and Gemma.

“Let’s finish this,” Scott said, stepping up beside Dillon, or perhaps James now.  “RPM,” he shouted, summing his team.

“Get in gear!”  They bellowed with him.

“Street saber strike,” Scott continued, and launched his attack.

He’d feared that they would barely scratch Venjix’s armor.  He’d hoped for a few sparks and a scorch mark.  Venjix looked like he’d been smacked by a sledgehammer, with sparks, dents and scorch marks all over.  There was even smoke.

“This body has failed me,” Venjix announced, looking down at his jerking fingers.

“We’re not done yet,” Scott said as the Rangers combined their weapons. 

“RPM Enforcer!”

All that was left was scattered robot parts and a rapidly fading cry of “No!”

As the other Rangers celebrated, Scott stared at the parts.  Someone stepped up beside him, and Scott glanced over.  Dillon was staring at the remains, and Scott wondered what was going on under the helmet.  “It’s not done yet,” Dillon said finally.

“No,” Scott agreed.  “That couldn’t be the end of it.”

Dillon nodded, “I’ve decided to change my name,” he said.  “I’m not the James Mom remembered, but I’m not who I thought I was.”

“What do we call you then?”  Scott asked, aware that the group behind him had fallen silent.

“Dillon,” Dillon said, “officially it’s James Dillon Hart.”

Scott nodded and gripped Dillon’s shoulder, “Welcome home.”

“Good job Rangers,” Doctor K cut in, “The Defense is standing by to retrieve the robot body.  Escort them to the lab, then return to base.”

“You got it Doc,” Scott said.

***

Doctor K barely glanced up as Doctor Kendall walked into the Ranger Room, “I brought the information,” Hailey said.

“Please leave it there,” Doctor K waved to indicate the edge of her desk.  She kept her on the computer and the program it was running, hoping that this time it would give her a different answer.

“Is everything all right?”  Hailey asked.

The computer beeped and Doctor K sighed, “I was looking to see if Gem and Gemma had family in Corinth, but I can’t find anyone.”  She hesitated, “There also seems to be an anomaly in their DNA that I can’t figure out.”

Hailey frowned, “May I look?”

“Yes,” Doctor K replied.

Hailey moved around to stare at the screen, “That’s their DNA?”

“Yes,” Doctor K said shortly.

“I’ve seen it before,” Hailey said, “at least, I think I have.  Genetics isn’t my forte, but there’s something familiar about their DNA.  May I have a copy?  I think Dana might recognize it.”

Doctor K hesitated, then hit print, “You may,” she said quietly.

“We won’t treat them like experiments,”  Hailey said, “I agree, they deserve to know their family.”  She took the print out and stepped back, “I’ll let you know what comes of this.”

“Thank you,” Doctor K said.


	39. The Beginning of the End

Doctor K sighed as the Rangers gathered in the Ranger Room, "I thought Venjix couldn't go mobile," Flynn said as they walked in.

"We've known this was possible," Scott replied, "remember when we took care of the Doomsday Bot? Gem and Gemma said that he said that his body wasn't fit for combat."

"Right," Flynn said.

"We have always been aware that this was possible," Doctor K announced. "I do not understand what happened to his armor."

"It buckled," Ziggy said, "that was pretty cool."

"It won't be so easy next time," Scott replied as he looked at Doctor K, "what should we be looking out for, Doc?"

"More appearances by Venjix," Doctor K replied as she glanced up at him. "We need to know where he's launching them from."

"There are no factories in sensor range," Gem said.

"We've looked for them," Gemma added.

"There is another option," Doctor K said, "Tenaya."

"No," Dillon said firmly. "We're not going to risk her."

"There will be very little risk," Doctor K replied, "if she agrees we will use a Trojan virus to achieve our goal."

"How?" Flynn asked.

"We'll make an obvious virus, a variant of something I've been working on for the Defense, and under it will be a second virus that will simply cause Venjix computers to ping their location in a way that we can detect." Doctor K replied.

"If Venjix catches Becca, I mean, Tenaya," Dillon began.

"That's a risk that Tenaya will have to decide she wants to take," Doctor K replied. She looked at them, "Ranger Red, please handle the briefing outside. I need to finish writing the virus."

"Yes Doctor K," Scott said.

Dillon seemed ready to protest, but Ziggy grabbed his arm and started working towards the door, catching Dillon by surprise as he went. Dillon stumbled but followed Ziggy when the green ranger showed no signs of stopping. From the faint green and black aura, Scott figured that Ziggy could relocate Dillon anywhere he wanted to without any problems.

Flynn and Summer followed, but Scott hesitated, "Hey Doc," he said, "are you planning to give Dillon any more memories?"

"We are planning another session in two weeks," Doctor K replied, "he is becoming more emotional as he regains what was taken from him."

Scott watched the doors shut and closed his eyes for a long moment, already hating himself for what he was about to say. "Doc, we're hitting the end game, I-I would rather you didn't do any more. We need Dillon able to do what he does. It's not that I don't want him to get his memories back, but if it's going to make him more unpredictable..."

"This is a conversation you need to have with Dillon," Doctor K said. "It is his choice after all."

"Right," Scott said.

"I'm not saying you're wrong, Ranger Red," Doctor K said, "it is that this is Dillon's decision."

Scott nodded, and headed for the door, "I'll talk to him later."

"Be careful, he might not take it well."

Scott glanced at Doctor K, but she was already typing and staring at her computer screens. Scott shrugged and stepped up to activate the doors. Mrs. Johanason was putting a large plate of sandwiches on the briefing table, "I needed to do something, James," she was saying. "I've had my own run ins before, but experiencing and watching are two completely different things."

Scott glanced over his shoulder as the doors hissed closed, "All right," he said, "Ziggy, Dillon, what happened with Tenaya today?"

Ziggy glanced up, sandwich in his hand, "Remember that General, the Ranger-Killer? He's arrived."

"Wonderful," Scott replied, he turned, "Gem, Gemma, do you have anything to report?"

"No Scott," Gem said.

"Nothing special happened." Gemma said.

"With the attack bot."

"Great," Scott said, "now, as I said, I don't think we should expect the next Venjix bot to go down as easily as today. Whatever happened today, we simply don't know. Now, I know that we've all had our style of dealing with bots, but I think there's something we need to think on." He looked at his team for a long moment, "Venjix going mobile isn't good, it's one of the things we would classify as part of the End Game. What that means is that this battle is not going to drag on for years more. It's been six years, almost seven. That's  _too damn long._  Doc K and her scientists are almost ready to go into battle, and our job is to make sure the field is ready. That's going to require some sacrifices. None of us wants to lose an ally, Dillon. We'll do what we can to minimize the risks for her, but face it, we need the Palace. If we're going to be sure that Venjix is contained and defeated, we have to find his base. Tenaya is our best way to find it right now."

Dillon glared at him for a long moment.

"He's right, James," Kim said, touching Dillon's arm. "You're going to need her help. She's not a little girl any more, and we have to trust her to take care of herself."

Dillon closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "I don't have to like it," he pointed out.

"None of us do," Ziggy said, also reaching over. He slipped his hand in to Dillon's, "But Dillon, we have to be prepared to do whatever it takes."

"Venjix has taken from all of us," Scott said, "but he's also given us something. He's given us this team. We aren't defeated yet, and we will not be as long as we stand together. We have a lot of work to do now, guys, and it's not all going to be pleasant. If we stand together, and help each other, we will win."

He could see it, Summer had straightened up, and Flynn's eyes were bright with the light of battle. Ziggy's green and black aura was faintly visible, and Dillon, while still clearly unhappy, met his eyes squarely and nodded once. Gem and Gemma were hugging each other with bright grins, the kind that they got when they were going to be blowing stuff up. "Gem, Gemma, I want you to get over to the Defense offices and sit down with their demolitions people. When we find Venjix's Palace, we are going to blow it sky high. Summer, Flynn, we need to be prepared to go outside the city. I suggest you two start going over the supplies, get what you need from the Defense Quartermaster. Ziggy, I need you to go meet up with the older Rangers. They need to be aware that the End Game is coming and what it will mean for them. I'm not expecting them to charge into battle with us, but I want them to know that it may come down to everyone fighting." Scott took a deep breath, "If the Defense gives you any trouble, tell them you're working on Operation End Game. All of the COs are aware of what that means." He looked at Dillon, "Dillon, Mrs. Johansson, might I have a word in private."

Scott took Dillon and Kim into the conference room, and pushed the door shut firmly. He bowed his head for a moment,  _Please,_  he thought, casting his thought out to whoever might hear him,  _let this go well._

"What's going on Scott?" Dillon asked.

Scott sighed, "How are you doing Dillon?"

"I'm fine," Dillon said, "why?"

Scott turned, biting his lip, "You've been, unpredictable lately. I've been worried about you."

"You don't have to be, I'm fine," Dillon protested.

"This isn't going to be easy," Scott said, "but I'm worried about the memory integration you've been doing. You've been more apt to fly off the handle lately."

"He's right," Kim said, "James, you have been short tempered."

"I'm not saying this to hurt you," Scott continued, "I just, I'm just worried about what might happen in the End Game. I have to be able to depend on all of you to do, and to understand, what I need you to do. I trust you, Dillon, you're a part of this team and nothing is going to make us get rid of you now. I just wonder, if getting your memories back, if it might be better to hold off. Maybe you should wait until we've released the virus that will stop Venjix. Doc K says there won't be another session in two weeks. Maybe we'll be done by then, but if we're not, Dillon, we need you to not be distracted. You are hands down our strongest fighter. Ziggy's magic gives him an edge, but we're trying to not make a big deal of that, and Gem and Gemma have had years and years of training, but when it comes down to it, you are the backbone to the team in terms of physical fighting."

"I don't like it," Dillon said.

"Just," Scott hesitated, "just give it some thought. Talk it over between yourselves. I know how important it is to you to get back your memories, but defeating Venjix is also important."

"I'll think about it," Dillon said reluctantly.

"That's all I'm asking," Scott said, he stepped away from the door, "I'd also appreciate it if you would consider going after Ziggy and help him with the older Rangers. I don't want anyone to be alone outside the Garage. I don't even want Doc K to be alone in the Garage unless we have no other choice."

"Some of the Rangers can still morph," Kim said, "I'm sure if we ask, and we lay it out, they'll be willing to come stand guard here if necessary."

Scott smiled, "Thank you."

GiG END GAME 1 GiG

Ziggy and Dillon left the Garage not long after, "So," Ziggy said as they drove, "do you think everything's going to be ok?"

"I'm sure it will be fine," Dillon said. "Scott asked me something, Ziggy. I wanted your opinion."

"Ok?" Ziggy asked hesitantly.

"Scott asked me to consider holding off on any more memories," Dillon replied, "He's afraid that they're going to make me irratic."

Ziggy bit his lip, "He might have a point, you haven't been acting like  _Dillon_  lately." He flushed a little and stared at his knees, "You're a lot warmer than you have been. You get mad easily, but, you also reach out emotionally, if that makes sense. You're also more overprotective too. I noticed that today. You used to say that if I said I could do it, you'd let me, but, you seemed to hesitate when I went to help Gem and Gemma." His chuckle was a little bitter, "I also don't want you to remember what an idiot I used to be, if you don't mind, but in terms of how this could affect what's happening…" he trailed off.

Dillon glanced at him for a moment when he stopped for a stop sign. Ziggy looked sad and distant, the way he looked when he thought about Jessie.

"I'll see what happens," Dillon said out loud, "we might end the battle tomorrow and it won't be an issue. Besides Ziggy, I already knew you were an idiot, it's just that you're  _my_  idiot."

They reached their first destination, a row of townhomes. "Who lives here anyways?" Dillon asked.

"Doctor Justin Stewart," Ziggy replied, "he probably won't participate in the Ranger stuff, but letting him know is a courtesy."

"Stewart? Isn't he the one who keeps fighting with Doc K?" Dillon asked.

"Among other things," Ziggy said.

They slid out of the car and headed up Justin's front door. "Dillon!"

They turned to see a pretty, dark haired woman approaching them. For a moment, she wavered to reveal Tenaya in her usual jumpsuit, and then the woman came back in view.

"Tenaya, what are you doing here?" Dillon asked.

"I'm scouting," Tenaya said, "General Kilobyte is preparing an attack within the next two days."

Dillon bit his lip for a moment, "Look, Tenaya, if we needed your help, would you do something?"

"Depends on what it is," Tenaya replied.

"We need to get a virus in Venjix's computers. It will help us find stuff like the factories." Ziggy said.

Tenaya hesitated, then nodded, "Get it to me and I'll deal with it. Doctor K uses plug and play programming, right?"

"I guess," Dillon said.

"She does," Ziggy confirmed.

"Right," Tenaya said, "I have to get going."

"Take care of yourself," Dillon told her, "don't get in over your head."

"It's a good thing that I can swim," Tenaya replied, "because we already are."


	40. Summer's Girls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter draws inspiration from the episode Dome Dolls.

“All right guys,” Scott said, “let’s get this done quick.”  He looked around the conference room.  “We’ve all got a copy of the virus.  We need to get it into Tenaya’s hands as soon as possible.  Flynn, you had news for us?”

Flynn nodded, “Gemma and I have almost finished testing on the Road Attack Zord.  There might be a few bugs to work out still, but we won’t know until it’s a live fire exercise.  We keyed it for you, Scott.  It’s an interesting weapon, if it works out.”

Scott nodded, “I’ll stop by later for more information.  Ziggy, Dillon, how did it go with the Rangers?”

“Well enough,” Dillon said, “Doctor Stewart said that he’d morph if he had to, but only as a last resort.”

“Doctor Oliver and Dad are organizing a presence here,” Ziggy said, “to make sure Doctor K isn’t alone here.  They’ll have someone here by noon today.”

“Major Bradley and Captain Fernandez, Xander and Charlie aren’t going to be a part of that rotation,” Dillon said, “and they apologize for it, but they had something else to do.”

“They did,” Scott said quietly.

“They’ve undertaken to stand a rotation covering Mister McAllister and Colonel Truman,” Ziggy said with a slight grin.  “There was some discussion about similar protection for the Landsdowns but we’re not sure we have anyone suitable for the job, although Joel and Doctor Dana seemed willing.”

“Mike asked us to look into a suitable building to double as a haven for the Ranger kids,” Dillon said, “I told him we’d ask.”

“After I told dad that I wouldn’t be hiding, I mean standing guard, over such a place,” Ziggy said, “we’ve got confirmation that everyone’s willing to fight if we need them to.”

“Excellent,” Scott said, “Summer?”

“Supplies are prepped and accounted for,” Summer replied, “you might notice some extra weight on the back end, Scott and Dillon.  We’re anticipating having Gem and Gemma with Flynn, Ziggy with Dillon and I’ll be either on my bike or with Scott and distributed supplies accordingly.  Flynn has overhauled the vehicles and all that’s left is to put the sand tires on everything for the journey.”

“I’ll be putting those on tonight,” Flynn said, “unless something comes up.”

“That’s fantastic,” Scott said with a smile, “Gem, Gemma, anything to say?”

The twins exchanged looks and excited smiles, “We talked to…”

“Demolitions and they…”

“Said they would…”

“Be happy to help…”

“Blow stuff up.”

“They’ll have all…”

“That we need…”

“Soon.  There will…”

“Be several deliveries…”

“Of explosive material…”

“Doctor K has…”

“Given us storage…”

“Space on base…”

“We’ll just have…”

“To pick what…”

“We want…”

“To take.”

Scott took a moment to parse that into something he could understand and nodded, “Let me know if you have any problems.  Now all we can do is wait for Tenaya to show up to pass on the virus.  On that note, I suggest we take some time this afternoon to relax.  Take some time to feel human again.”

“That’s it?”  Ziggy said.

“My dad used to say that war was eighty-five percent boredom and fifteen percent sheer terror,” Scott said, “I know what you all get like when you’re bored.  Do you want me and Doc to come up with new training scenarios?”

“No!”  Summer and Flynn said while Dillon pointedly covered Ziggy’s mouth.

“We’re fine,” Gem and Gemma said in unison, with cheery grins.

“Then we’re dismissed,” Scott said.

There were two people waiting for them in the Garage that Scott thought were vaguely familiar.  As he got closer, he recognized Mack and Rose Hartford.  Doctor K was talking to them, looking faintly annoyed.  “What’s up Doc?”  Ziggy asked, walking over to sling an arm over her shoulders.

“Don’t call me Doc,” Doctor K said as she stepped away from Ziggy.

“We’ll be taking the first watch,” Rose said with a smile, “we’ll be here until midnight, and then Dom and Doctor Oliver will take the next watch.”

“We’re glad you agreed to do this,” Scott said with an easy smile.  “We’ve had the base invaded before.”

“It’s not a problem,” Rose said.  “Oliver’s twins were happy to babysit, so there wasn’t a question of being available.”

“Are Lexi and Leigh trying to take Tori’s spot?”  Ziggy asked, “I mean, Charlie and Xander have hired them, Trent has, even Doctor Stewart mentioned them as babysitters.”

“Lexi and Leigh were Tori’s original Terrors,” Rose laughed, “I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“What are you talking about?”  Summer asked as she picked up a cue stick.

“Blake’s wife Tori,” Dillon said, “she used to babysit a lot of the Ranger kids, especially the ones who had powers from their parents.  She would teach them to use their powers responsibly, make sure they were safe, all sorts of things.  They used to call her kids Tori’s Terrors.  Lexi and Leigh were just pranksters, but some of the others…”

“Chase was a bully,” Ziggy said bluntly, “and some of the others weren’t much better.”

“As fascinating as this might be,” Doctor K said, “I do have some work to do, if you’ll excuse me.”

They watched Doctor K vanish into the Ranger Room and Flynn sighed, “It is nice to hear about Ranger history,” he said when Scott looked over at him, “but it’s sad too.”

“There are a lot of people we’ll know only in stories,” Scott said as he reached out to wrap his arm around Flynn’s waist.  “But don’t worry; we’ll have our own stories to share with those who follow us.”

Flynn leaned into Scott’s embrace with another sigh.  Scott rested his head against Flynn, softly breathing in the scents of sandalwood and motor oil that made up Flynn’s unique scent.  Suddenly, Flynn slumped forward, as if he’d been pushed into Scott.  Before Scott could figure out what had happened, or even catch himself, he smelled something sickly sweet and then the world went away.

Xxx End Game 2 xxX

All of the boys were sprawled on the ground, unconscious.  Summer had tried to shake Flynn and Scott, but they hadn’t roused.  Rose was morphed.  Summer hadn’t even seen the Pink Overdrive Ranger move until after she’d morphed. 

“They’re unconscious,” Summer said.

“Of course they are,” Rose replied, “because nothing in this world can be easy.”  She tapped Mack on his arm, “These are the days I wonder if we really managed to counteract that bad luck curse.”

“Gem!”

“Gemma,” Summer said, she leapt to her feet and ran for the Danger Room, Rose on her heels.

Gem was sprawled on the floor in the Ranger Room, Gemma kneeling over him.  “Are you all right?”  Rose asked.

“He won’t wake up,” Gemma replied, clearly panicked.  “Why won’t he wake up?”

“They’re all like that,” Summer replied.  She knelt by her teammate and put her arm around the other woman’s shoulders.  “We’ll figure it out, Gemma.”

“He’s not here,” Gemma whispered sadly.

“What?”  Rose asked.

“Gem,” Gemma replied, glancing up at her.  “I hear everyone else when we morph, but Gem…” she leaned into Summer’s hug.  “I hate it when he’s not here.”

“We’ll get him back,” Doctor K said.  “I’ll run some tests and see what I can figure out.”

“Right,” Summer said.  “Gemma, Rose, can you bring the others in here?  The Ranger Room is a lot more defensible than the Garage.  I’ll see who’s on duty up in the tower.”

“Right,” Rose said, “Come on Gemma.  It helps if you stay busy, yeah?”  She helped Gemma stand and guided her out of the Ranger Room, chatting about something.

Summer headed for the video phone, only to have it come alive before she could do anything.  “Doctor K, Rangers, can you read me?”

“Vasquez?”  Summer asked.

“Yes, thank God you’re there,” Vasquez said.  “All the men in the control tower are unconscious and the other women are all on the ground.”

“All of them?”  Summer demanded.

“There was a baby shower,” Vasquez replied.  “I offered to stay up here and cover the tower.  I think Dinah and Karri just went to lunch before this happened.”

Summer took a deep breath, “Vasquez, I need you to check the shields and make sure they’re holding strong.  We’re working on something to counteract this, but it might take time.”

“I think I can,” Vasquez replied, “I’m not a shield tech though.  I just know that if it makes certain noises then it’s not good.”

“Right,” Summer said, “do what you can.  Make sure nobody up there is in a bad position too.  We don’t want them to wake up injured.”

“I will,” Vasquez replied.

Summer’s screen beeped, “Hold on, I need to check this.”

Doctor Dana Grayson appeared beside Vasquez, “Summer Landsdown, I would say it’s safe to say that this is a city-wide issue then?”

“It appears so,” Summer replied.  “Hold on.”  She turned the conversation into a three way call.  “Vasquez, this is Doctor Dana Grayson from Corinth Hospital.  Doctor Dana, this is Sonya Vasquez from the Command Tower.  Yes, it seems to be city wide from what I’ve heard.”

“All the men unconscious,” Dana said and shook her head.  “I never saw a spell that could do this.”

“Maybe it’s not a spell,” Sonya replied.  “There are gases that can hit a wide area.”

“The gender specific nature could indicate that,” Dana agreed.  “Summer, I just talked to Pink Ptera.  She’s got the others out organizing things and making sure that nobody’s in a life threatening position.  Samurai Yellow went down to the elementary school to organize that while Fran from JKP is at the high school.  I haven’t spoken to Rose yet.”

“She’s here,” Summer said, “Her and Mack were taking the first watch at the Garage.  Mack is down, but Rose, Gemma, and I are mobile along with Doctor K.”

The alarms began to go off.  “There’s an attack bot,” Doctor K began.

“Summer, Gemma,” Rose said, “you handle this.  I’ll help Dana and Vasquez?  Vasquez organize things from here.  Dana and I both can morph if you need back up.”

“Thanks Rose,” Summer said as she followed Gemma into the Garage.  “We’ll take the Fury,” Summer said, “my bike doesn’t carry two.”

“All right,” Gemma said with a big grin as she grabbed a black bag from the back of Flynn’s truck.

“What’s that?”  Summer asked.

“Explosives,” Gemma replied, “In case we have to blow something up.”

“All right,” Summer said.

“I’ll send the other Rangers as soon as they’re awake,” Doctor K called as the Ranger Room door slid shut.

Summer glanced up at the camera over the door, “Thanks Doctor K.”

Tenaya and her bot, an ugly mess of metal and tubing, were waiting for them in one of the shopping plazas.

“Welcome Rangers,” Tenaya said.

“You’re going to regret this Tenaya,” Summer said, mindful of their possible audience.

“Of course I won’t,” Tenaya said.  “Soon, I will have Corinth ready to hand over and you won’t be able to stop me.”

“That’s what you think,” Gemma replied.

They slid their engine cells home, “RPM, Get in Gear.”

“Grinders,” Tenaya called.

Summer threw herself at the Grinders, but in the back of her mind, she could only think of the odds of this battle going successfully.  There were too many variables to be certain of victory, and most of them hinged on Doctor K getting the boys awake and on the move fast.

“Hi-yah,” Gemma shouted, pulling Summer out of her worry.

Gemma was going up against Tenaya, and Summer knew her teammate was passing the virus over to Tenaya.  Then it was back to the punch, block, and kick repetition of a Grinder fight.  It wasn’t until she found herself facing the bot that she realized that things were almost silent now.  The boys had always favored yelling and talking while they fought, but this time, they were absent, and it was very noticeable in the noise department.

Summer reached for her Zip Charger, allowing the tiny weapon to fall into her hand with barely a whisper.  As it attacked the bot, Summer heard the familiar squeal of Scott’s breaks.

“All right Tenaya,” Scott said, “you’ve had your fun.”

“And what a wild time it was,” Tenaya replied.  “It’s a shame you showed up and ruined it.”

“Let’s wrap this up,” Scott held up the Road Attack Zord.

Summer gladly fell back into position as Scott and Flynn set up the device.  “Are you all right?”  Dillon asked as she joined them.

“I’m just fine,” Summer said.

The Zord worked like it was supposed to and the bot was soon an exploding pile of junk.  “I’m out of energy,” Scott said, looking at the team.

“We can hold him,” Ziggy said as the bot began to grow.

“I’ll have you back to full power in five minutes,” Doctor K added.

Summer looked over to where Tenaya was watching them.  Their visors blocked eye contact, but Summer knew that Tenaya had the virus and would upload it as soon as she possibly could.

“Summer,” Scott said, “Let’s finish this.”


	41. Kilobyte Has Entered The Building

It was safe to say that the Rangers’ first impression of General Kilobyte the Ranger Killer was not the flattering to the General and his attack bot minion wasn’t much better.  “Who does he think he is?”  Ziggy asked as Kilobyte’s speech wound down.

“Elvis,” Scott suggested.

They all snickered a little.

“This is no laughing matter, Rangers,” Kilobyte announced.

“Actually it is,” Dillon said.  “Just because you lack the ability to find things funny doesn’t mean we don’t.”

“Be careful Black Ranger,” Kilobyte said, “you wouldn’t want Mommy to go the same way your sister did.”

Dillon snarled, and Ziggy grabbed his arm, “Keep your head,” he murmured.  “You know that he’s just trying to push your buttons.”

“Or you, Ranger Green,” Kilobyte, “still grieving for your mother.”

“Which one?”  Ziggy called back curiously.  “I mean, I am adopted and all of that.”  He turned back to Dillon, “Honestly, you think they’d be clearer if they’re going to insult people.  I thought they had computers for brains.”

Scott glanced over at Ziggy and Dillon, wondering what had gotten into his green ranger, but reluctantly turned his attention back to Kilobyte shortly thereafter.  “Enough pleasantries,” Kilobyte said, “Grinders, attack.”

“Ok, now I’m laughing,” Dillon said.  “You’d think they’d have learned by now.”

The fight afterwards went almost exactly as Scott had expected, they had taken the Grinders down with easy and turned to Kilobyte.  “You might think that was easy Rangers,” Kilobyte said, “but I remind you that I have killed Rangers before.”

Ziggy laughed bitterly, “You killed a pair of women in their forties who haven’t had to morph in decades, and one of which doesn’t even have a morpher at all.  That’s not as impressive as you think it is.  You aren’t even the first to kill a Ranger, and you won’t be the last.  The thing about Ranger Killers is that there’s always a stronger Ranger waiting to deal with them.”

“You’re just another in a long line of incompetent minions trying to make yourself seem scarier than you really are,” Dillon added bluntly.

Suddenly, the ground shook.  The Rangers looked at each other as it stopped.  “What was that?”  Scott asked, “An earthquake?”

“I don’t know,” Summer replied.

The earthquake continued for several long minutes before it ended with an attack bot appearing between the Rangers and Kilobyte.

“What?”  Kilobyte demanded.

“We’re not the ones who attack with robots,” Scott retorted, “it’s not ours.”

“No,” another voice said, “it’s mine.”

“Shifter,” Kilobyte shouted, “you dare!”

“I told you that Gen 5 had its own strengths Kilobyte,” the speaker was another robot who had emerged from between two nearby buildings.

“You also have weaknesses, fool,” Kilobyte said.  “Kicked out of the palace, limited resources to deal with your failings and only a broken attack bot to aid you, and you build _this?”_

Summer glanced at the other Rangers, even if their helmets hid their faces, she could read their confusion in their stances.  Then Dillon nodded and turned to the others, “Remember what Gem and Gemma told us, from Charlie’s sister Nicole?  Shifter is one of Venjix’s generals, along with Crunch or Clank or whatever; he stayed at Venjix’s palace.  No one’s ever seen him before.”

“I remember,” Summer said, “I wonder what happened.”

There was a crash of metal on metal and two robotic shouts.  Turning, the Rangers found that Kilobyte’s robot had attacked Shifter’s robot and the pair were now struggling for dominance.

“Now there’s something you don’t see every day,” Flynn said as the Rangers moved closer to each other.

“I wouldn’t have thought they’d fight each other,” Summer said, trying not to relax as she found herself sandwiched, shoulder to shoulder, between Scott and Flynn.  It was always comforting to have them with her.

“Let them,” Scott said firmly as he rested a hand on Summer’s shoulder.  “This can only be a good thing for us.  If Kilobyte was right about Shifter’s current status and resources, the more he wastes on stunts like this, the better it will turn out for us.”

Shifter’s bot fell in a shower of sparks, both from the attacks and from his own overloading circuits.  Kilobyte cried out in triumph.

“We attack now,” Scott said and stalked forward.  “Burst Attack!”

“Chi Energy Blast.”

“Time Freeze.”

“Turbo Axe.”

“Rocket Blaster.”

Finally the twins, “Cloud Hatchets.”

Kilobyte’s attack bot, weakened by his battle against Shifter’s bot, exploded under the assault.

“No!”  Kilobyte howled.

“Its Zord time,” Gem commented as Kilobyte’s robot began to grow.

Reenergized by Venjix, the attack bot was a difficult opponent, handling strong attacks from the High Octane, Valve Max, and Sky Rev Megazords before Scott summoned the Paleomax and they created the Ultra Zord.  Summer knew that Scott hated using the Ultra Zord because of the energy required, but it was a tradeoff she was willing to put up with personally.  The Ultra Zord’s power was sufficient to handle anything they came across, even if there was a hint of overkill in the combined and enhanced power of twelve Zords.  Still the explosion was immensely satisfying for Summer.

Back at the Garage, Summer watched Gem and Gemma head into the Ranger Room before heading for the kitchen.  “I’m cooking tonight,” Ziggy called after her, “I’ll start in about an hour though and we’ll eat in two.”

“All right,” Summer called back as she opened the fridge, “and thanks!”

“My pleasure,” Ziggy replied.

“Man, that Kilobyte,” Flynn said as he began to pick through his fruit bowl.

“He’s not as much of a joke as we want to pretend,” Scott said.

“We know Scott,” Flynn said.  When Summer had selected a small tub of yoghurt and closed the fridge, she found that Flynn and Scott were hugging, again.

“We all know to take Venjix and his robots seriously,” She said, putting the yoghurt down and heading over to collect a hug of her own.  “I just don’t understand his personality programs.”

Scott leaned into the two of them, his hands settling easily around their waists.  “He’s probably pulling from a history file or something.  Although I cannot imagine who he’s based Shifter on from what we saw.”

Summer kissed Scott’s cheek, “We’ll probably figure it out after we destroy him.”

“Summer,” Scott said, leaning back to look at her.

“Scott, I have faith that if nothing else, Gem and Gemma will load the guy down with enough explosives to level Corinth and blow him up,” Summer said lightly.  “We’re taking him seriously.  Seriously.”

“Summer’s right,” Flynn said, leaning over to kiss Scott’s nose.  “We are well aware of the danger those two generals, former or not, pose for Corinth.  It’s just nice to find something utterly ridiculous about them.”

Scott sighed and rested his head on Flynn’s shoulder.  “I understand guys.  I just don’t want us to get sloppy with the end so close.”

Summer also leaned into Flynn, relishing in her partner’s solid presence, how he held them up with ease.  “If that happens then I know that you’ll pull us back in line,” she said, “and if you’re the one who slips up, we’ll catch you.  That’s what a team is for, not just to make each other stronger, but to catch each other when we’re weak.”

“Listen to Summer,” Flynn said as he wrapped his arm around Summer’s shoulders, “she’s got the right idea.”

“I do?”  Summer chuckled, “Nice to know someone thinks so.”

Flynn squeezed her shoulder and Summer felt tension slid out of her shoulders like water.  She’d missed this lately.  They’d been so focused on the fight and their teammates that their relationship had fallen into a distant third.  She didn’t think they were drifting apart, but there was no denying that she felt stronger than she had in weeks just because of this extended hug.

Scott’s stomach growled loudly and they all laughed.

“On that note, I’m going to grab something to eat and take a shower,” Scott said, although he didn’t move from their hug.

Summer and Flynn’s stomachs growled in unison, prompting another laugh, and Summer freed herself from the hug.  “I’m going to eat,” she told them, “and then I want to finish some jewelry I’ve been working on.  After dinner, let’s have a movie night.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Scott said, kissing Summer’s cheek.

Summer didn’t bother to stop her smile as she turned away.  However, Dillon had other plans.  “That’s my yoghurt,” Summer said.

“You weren’t eating it,” Dillon replied as he took out another spoonful.

“It was on the counter,” Summer said, “that meant someone was planning to eat it.”

“Before it got too warm?”  Dillon asked.

Summer threw her hands up in frustration and went back to the fridge.

“Don’t forget that Ziggy’s going to have dinner ready in two hours,” Dillon said as he loudly scraped the last of the yoghurt out of the container.  “He’s making some kind of lasagna.”

“That’s nice,” Summer said as she rooted around in the fridge.  With one hand she pawed through the small collection of yoghurts, and with the other hand, she pulled something else out of the fridge.  “If I weren’t already dammit Dillon!”

“If you weren’t already what?”  Flynn asked.

Summer slammed the fridge shut, pivoted and kicked Dillon in the shin, “That was the last of my yoghurt!  All that’s in there is somebody’s Harvest Peach and Flynn’s plain.”  She lashed out again, but Dillon dodged.

“Sorry Summer,” he said, “I just didn’t want it to go bad.”

“It wouldn’t go bad in five minutes,” Summer said.

“I’ll replace it,” Dillon said, holding his hands up as he dodged another kick by Summer.

“Now,” Summer snapped.  She brought up the hand she’d kept obscured by her jacket and squirted Dillon on the forehead with one of the specially chilled water guns that lived in the crisper drawer.

Dillon yelped, “That’s cold!”

“Of course it is,” Summer said.  “It’s easier to keep them cold than hot!”  She squirted Dillon again and he flinched back.  “That’s for eating my yoghurt!”  Dillon backed out of the kitchen as Summer squirted him again, “That’s for being such a brat about it.”  She chased him out of the kitchen and through the briefing area while Scott and Flynn laughed behind her.

Just as the water pistol ran dry, the alarms started up.

“Doctor K?”  Scott called.

“I’m picking up unusual energy on the base,” Doctor K announced over the intercoms.  “Scanners indicate a similar bio-signature to Ranger Black and Tenaya-Seven.”

“Cameras?”  Scott said as he and Flynn hurried into the briefing area.

The computer screens snapped on to reveal a dark corner of the base, where an indistinct figure crouched.  As they watched, the figure crept forward and into the edge of a light, allowing them to clearly see Tenaya’s bruised face.

“Let’s go,” Dillon said.

“Dillon,” Scott began.

“She’s hurt,” Dillon said.  “At least let’s get her into the drive out there long enough to make sure she’s okay.”

Scott hesitated, and then turned, “Ziggy,” he called.

“Here,” Ziggy called from upstairs, “sorry, I was in the shower.”

“Are you decent?”  Scott asked.

“I’m wearing pants,” Ziggy called back after a moment, “hold on.”  The crackling static noise that signified his teleportation heralded Ziggy’s appearance in the briefing room.  He was wearing a pair of ripped jeans and had a towel over his shoulders.  Summer was momentarily distracted by a barely visible tattoo on his hip.  “What do you need, Scott?”

Scott pointed at the screen, “Tenaya’s on the base,” he said.  “And she’s hurt.  Can you get her and bring her here?”

Ziggy raised an eyebrow at Scott, “I need some clear visuals.  Where am I going, and by here, do you mean in the Garage here, or a specific room?”

“Conference room,” Doctor K said.  “I have contacted Doctor Grayson and she is on her way.”

“What are you planning to do?”  Rose asked as she stepped out of the Ranger Room.

“I’m going to teleport Tenaya here,” Ziggy said, “to the conference room.”

“We’ll patch her up, hear her story, and decide from there,” Scott said.  “It might be better all around if she goes to a safe haven tonight.”

“Isn’t she one of Venjix’s minions?”  Rose asked.

“She’s also my sister,” Dillon said.  “Venjix stole her memories like he did mine; only he gave her new ones of being his general.  She’s been our spy for a while now.”  He glanced pointedly at Scott, “That virus must have given her away.”

“We’ll find out for sure,” Scott said.

“Look,” Rose said, “Mack and I will stay with Doctor K in the Ranger Room unless you want one of us in the conference room.”

“No,” Scott said.  “Doctor K can remote access the room, but too many people will feel like we’re crowding her.”

“I’m heading out,” Ziggy said suddenly.

Summer glanced over to find Ziggy had put the towel aside in favor of Dillon’s jacket, which was several sizes too big for him.  “Be careful,” Dillon ordered him.

“Naturally,” Ziggy replied.

There was another crackle of static and Ziggy was gone.  Rose also retreated into the Ranger Room, and Summer had one glimpse of her husband looking out before movement on the screen caught her eye.  Ziggy was standing at the edge of the light, talking to the figure in the corner.  After a long moment, the figure crept forward and Ziggy pulled her into a hug.

“Summer,” Scott said, “I want you and Dillon to meet them in the conference room.  We don’t need to crowd her any more than Mack and Rose did.”

“Right,” Summer said.

She stopped in the kitchen to collect the first aid kit, and then followed Dillon into the conference room.  No sooner had she closed the door before Ziggy and Tenaya teleported in.  “What happened?”  Dillon asked as Ziggy helped Tenaya sit down.

“Venjix detected the virus,” Tenaya said slowly.  “I barely got out of there in time.”  She looked up, and Summer tried not to gasp at her first clear glimpse at the other girl’s face.

“You’re safe here,” Dillon said calmly, “we’ll figure out something else to stop Venjix.”


	42. Shopping Trip

Ziggy found Dillon reading the shopping list in the kitchen, "Need something?" He asked.

"I'm doing the shopping today," Dillon replied.

"Don't forget the yogurt," Summer shouted from upstairs.

"I won't," Dillon called back.

"Want a buddy?" Ziggy offered, "I could get out of here too."

"You don't have to," Dillon said.

"No, I want to," Ziggy replied. "Doc wants me to try painting with a tablet, and it's not bad, but if I smudge another line because of where I touch the screen I'm going to throw that thing out the window, and then Doc would shove me out the window after it."

Dillon laughed, "We can't have that." He folded the list and slid it into his shoulder, "Let's go shopping then."

"Don't forget the yogurt," Scott shouted from upstairs.

"I won't," Dillon shouted back.

"What's the deal with the yogurt?" Ziggy asked as they slid into Dillon's car.

"I might have eaten the last of Summer's yogurt." Dillon replied. He turned the key and nothing happened. "What?" Dillon said, he turned the key again. Still nothing. "I just changed the battery," Dillon snarled and slammed his hand on the dashboard. When this also failed to produce anything, Dillon popped the hood, "Sorry Zig, I gotta figure this out."

"Take your time," Ziggy replied.

"That was the world's shortest shopping trip," Flynn called.

"Car won't start," Dillon replied as he pulled the hood up.

"What seems to be the problem?" Flynn asked, coming down stairs.

"If I knew, I'd be in a somewhat better mood," Dillon said.

Ziggy slid out of the car and watched as the pair leaned over the engine. "I can take the list," he said after a moment, "Get Summer's yogurt and all of that."

"Thanks," Dillon said.

"Let's check the starter," Flynn said, "I'll get my tools."

Ziggy ducked around Flynn and slipped up close to kiss Dillon lightly, "You'll figure it out," he said. Then he held up the list he'd plucked from Dillon's pocket. "I'll save you from Summer's wrath."

"You are a life saver," Dillon said and kissed him again.

Ziggy made himself step back and away, whistling as he headed for his scooter. "Ziggy," Doctor K said.

"Yeah, Doc?" Ziggy asked, "Need something from the store?"

"Not exactly," Doctor K said as she came around the wall by the kitchen. "I was actually hoping you wouldn't mind company on the trip."

"Well, uh," Ziggy hesitated, and then he smiled brightly, "Sure, I'd love company." He offered his arm to her, "I hope you don't mind if we swing by Dad's, though. I want to ask him something."

"It'll be nice to get out of the Garage," Doctor K replied, "and those tests won't be complete for several hours."

"We'll use the jeep," Ziggy said, "the scooter isn't exactly built for two."

"Can you drive?" Doctor K asked dryly.

"Contrary to Fresno Bob, yes I can," Ziggy said as he helped her into the jeep. He gave Dillon a wave as he trotted around the back of the jeep, collected the keys from under the seat and started the vehicle with a roar.

As they pulled out of the Garage, Ziggy waved at the sight of Kim walking up the drive and Kim waved back. Ziggy slowed down, "Hey Kim!" He called.

"Hey Ziggy, hi Doctor," Kim said. "I just stopped by to talk to James for a bit."

"He's in a bit of a mood," Ziggy said, "his car won't start."

Kim laughed, "He must be angry. He loves that old thing."

"Yeah, he does," Ziggy said. "I'd stay and chat, but Doc and I have some errands to run."

"Well don't let me keep you," Kim replied.

"We'll see you later," Doctor K said.

"Bye," Kim called as Ziggy started the car again.

Between the engine and the wind, it was difficult for Ziggy and Doctor K to talk to each other as they drove, but Ziggy figured that Doctor K would let him know if she had any comments to make. One think the doctor wasn't, was shy to speak up.

He turned the jeep down one of the side streets that was a short cut into Trent and Conner's neighborhood and shivered. The street was very close to the territory that the Scorpion Cartel claimed, and sometimes, like today, Ziggy saw his old associates out on the street. He didn't think the Cartel had given up on their claim to him, not while Bob was alive. The old man had, in many ways, saved his life when he'd needed the help, and while he didn't regret giving that medicine to the orphans, he did regret letting Bob down.

Suddenly the jeep jerked and wobbled as a loud explosion filled the air. "What the?" Doctor K squeaked.

Ziggy stopped the jeep and turned off the engine, "Stay there," he said quietly. He slid out of the jeep and nodded, "We've got a flat," he said. "I can change it, but it'll take a bit of time."

"That's all right," Doctor K replied.

Ziggy moved around to the back of the jeep, hoping that Flynn's compulsive habit of stocking all of the vehicles with a toolbox had carried over into the perpetually broken jeep. The sight of the gunmetal grey box made him smile in relief.

A woman screamed, and Ziggy jerked up. Someone, Ziggy couldn't see them clearly, was dragging Doctor K out of the jeep. "No," Ziggy shouted, scrambling to get around the jeep.

"Not so fast,  _Ziggy."_  Ziggy tensed as he was grabbed from behind and practically lifted up.

"Tony, put me down," Ziggy said, trying to catch the big man in a weak spot.

"Not a chance, Ziggy," Tony replied, "Boss wants a word."

"At least let the girl go," Ziggy said, "she's got nothing to do with this."

"I don't think so," Tony said, "we could use a little insurance against your good behavior."

Ziggy opened his mouth to argue and something burned into his neck like a shot. It felt like one of the doc's hyposprays. He didn't have much time for thought after that as darkness overtook him. The last thing he saw was the doctor collapsing in her captors' arms.

ENDGAMEGIGENDGAMEGIGENDGAME

"Where are they?" Scott demanded.

"I don't know," Dillon said as he tapped at the video phone. "I'm trying to call Conner and ask him if he's seen them."

"This is ridiculous," Summer said, "how can they get into trouble just from going shopping?"

"He is a green ranger," Kim said, "trouble finds them."

The Ranger Room door opened and Gemma came out, looking terrified and cradling something in her hand. "Gemma?" Summer asked.

"Look," Gemma said, and let her hand open, "it just appeared in the Ranger Room."

A morpher, looking exactly like Ziggy and Dillon's, sat in the palm of her hand.

"No!"

Summer hadn't even realized she'd said anything until someone, Flynn, was hugging her.

Weeks ago, Ziggy had told them that returning a morpher meant a person was dead, or expected to die. If that was Ziggy's morpher, then he and Doctor K were in worse trouble than they had expected.

Summer found herself sandwiched between Scott and Flynn; they were clinging to her as much as she was hanging on them. She lifted her head to peer over Flynn's shoulder to see Dillon and Kim hugging each other tightly and Charlie and Xander, their current guards, were comforting Gemma.

Scott hugged her and Flynn tightly one last time before he stepped back and cleared his throat. "We have to find them," he said. "That doesn't mean Ziggy's… gone. It means they're in trouble."

"But," Kim began, drawing back from Dillon.

"Don't tell me if it was your teammate you would give up," Scott roared. In a softer, but more intense tone, he continued, "Ziggy is one of  _mine_  and I  _never leave a man behind._  We'll find Ziggy and Doctor K and we'll bring them home. What I need from you is Tenaya. Doctor Dana took her back to her apartment to take care of some of the worst of her injuries. Get an escort, go over there, and make sure she's safe. Venjix will come looking for her; we need to keep her away from the Garage. Don't take her to your place either, it's too obvious."

"I- I can do that," Kim said. She raised her chin, "We'll keep Rebecca safe." She turned and ran from the Garage.

"Dillon, we're going to need into K's computers," Scott said. "I know Gem and Gemma are good, but I want Doctor Kendall here."

"On it," Dillon said and headed for the video phone.

"Gemma, I need you and Gem to sweep the base and make sure everything is locked down," Scott continued. " _Stay together._  Once the base is locked down, I'm going to get the Colonel on the phone and get some Defense people out here. No one gets on, no one gets off without permission. Charlie and Xander, I don't suppose there are any tracking spells you could use to give us a starting point?"

"We'll see what we can do," Charlie said, pulling Xander away.

"Summer," Scott turned, "get the first aid supplies together. They're probably going to be hurt and we'll need to deal with that fast."

"Right," Summer said.

"Flynn, I know this sounds stupid, but would mind making sandwiches and such? We're going to be moving fast and we'll need food ready to go as soon as we get somewhere to go." Scott finished.

"Not a problem, there should be enough," Flynn said, "it was…" he trailed off and hurried off.

Summer pulled Scott into a hug. "We're going to get them back," she told him. "I refuse to believe they're dead."

"We'll get them," Scott agreed. "Venjix is going to regret taking them."


	43. Changing Tides

Dillon closed his eyes after hanging up with Hailey.  She was on her way, but would need some time.  They all were going to need time.  Losing Ziggy, even if he was just hurt and captive, was a blow they weren’t prepared for.  Especially to lost Doctor K at the same time.

“Look, I just came to look at some test results that K and I were running.  I don’t know what’s going on, but if they’re done, we need those results to move onto the next part of the Archangel program.”

Dillon turned and stared.  Justin Stewart was standing just inside the Garage facing off against Scott.  Ziggy had told him that Stewart worked with the group preparing to fight Grumm, that part of it was a Ranger program.

“Let him in,” Dillon called.  “Scott, I need to talk to Doctor Stewart.  Hailey’s on her way, so I can escort Doctor Stewart and ask him a few questions.”

Scott hesitated a moment, then stepped aside, “Fine,” he said.  “I’ll be talking to the Colonel.”

“James,” Stewart said.

“Dillon,” Dillon corrected him.  They studied each other for a long moment.  Doctor Stewart was about six feet tall, with short, brown hair and blue eyes.  There was a touch of silver at his temples, but it only served to make him look mature.  He wore a pair of jeans, and a navy blue shirt.  If Dillon didn’t know that this man was a genius, he wouldn’t have known it at first glance.  He looked like he should be reading poetry in a college café before heading off to teach a class on Monet.

“The computes,” Stewart said.

“Right, this way,” Dillon said, jolted out of his thoughts.

No one was in the Ranger Room, which Dillon found to be a blessing, “What did you want to ask?”  Stewart said as he sat down at Doctor K’s computers.

“Ziggy told me you were working with a group to prepare for Grumm,” Dillon said quietly.  “He said there were Rangers involved.”

“There are,” Stewart said.  “We test morphed yesterday.  Why are you asking?”

Dillon clinched the metal stand of Doctor K’s workstation for a long moment.  “Ziggy and Doctor K left this morning to go shopping,” he said.  “About fifteen minutes ago, Ziggy’s morpher returned to the Garage.”

Stewart stared at him for a long moment.  “What are you thinking, Dillon?”

“We’re going to need help,” Dillon replied.  “We already know the track record for the older Rangers, and all of them have kids.  I’m just asking that, if we need it, will your Rangers be able to back us up.”

Stewart worked on the computer for a long moment.  “I make no promises, Dillon, but I’ll talk with them.  I don’t know that they’d say no, but I won’t promise their aid without their consent.”

“Thank you,” Dillon said, “that’s all I wanted to know.”  He stepped back.

“Dillon,” Stewart said, Dillon looked up, “I’m sorry about Ziggy and K.”

“We’ll get them back,” Dillon said firmly.  He couldn’t allow himself to think otherwise.

EndGameGIGEndGameGIGEndGame

His head and heart were pounding in painful unison.  It was the first thing Ziggy was aware of; the second thing was a voice.

“Please, please, please wake up.  Please, please, please wake up.”

Ziggy opened his eyes in response to that soft, almost panicked voice and groaned as light stabbed through to his brain, making his headache worse.

“Ziggy!”

A warm body laid over him in an awkward parody of a hug.  A warm breath slid over his ear, “Call me Emma.  They do not know who I am.  They think we are romantically connected.”

Ziggy hesitated for a moment, and then he remembered.  The jeep’s tire had blown out and Fresno Bob’s goons had snatched them.  “I’m glad you’re okay too, Em,” he said, giving her a quick hug, “but your knee is in a rather precarious position.”

“Sorry,” Doctor K murmured as she slid back off him.

Ziggy pushed himself to a sitting position and reached for his magic to do something about his headache.  Instead of the usual fount of power answering his call, Ziggy found the power moved like chilled molasses.  He reached up to press his hand against his chest and paused.  He never noticed the weight, it was a part of his arm the way his hair was part of his head.  Now, it was gone.  His wrist felt oddly cold, his arm felt light, as if he might move it and slap himself in the face before he realized what he was doing.

“My morpher,” Ziggy said.

“They took it off,” Doctor K replied, “they pulled it off and it disappeared.”

The day Ziggy had decided to steal the medical supplies from Fresno Bob; he knew he had signed his death warrant.  He might have escaped and come back and become a Ranger, but he knew Bob.  Bob would not allow him to get away with it, because to do so would be to act weak.  He’d programmed his morpher not long after he got it, so that if anyone removed the morpher except himself, especially if he was unconscious, it would be returned to the Garage.  The Rangers needed to defeat Venjix, not worry about Ziggy.

Except K wasn’t supposed to be here at all.  He was supposed to have been alone when Bob came for him.  He would have fought, have tried to escape, but that was part of the game.  Ziggy knew he would die to keep the medical supplies a secret.  Those children had needed the assistance that Corinth wouldn’t or couldn’t give them, and now it was up to Ziggy to keep them safe.

Except he had to keep Doctor K safe as well.  She had to get out, get back to Dillon, Kim, and Tenaya, so she could have her family.

Ziggy closed his eyes and wished that Dillon would be able to accept what would happen now.  Ziggy would do what he had to, to get Doctor K out of this safely.  Even if it meant giving away something that was supposed to belong to Dillon.

ENDGAMEGIGENDGAMEGIGENDGAME

Dillon didn’t sleep that night.  Summer and Flynn had teamed up to drag Scott upstairs around midnight and Gem and Gemma had vanished, leaving Dillon to prowl the Garage.  Colonel Truman’s men were patrolling the base itself, but they left the interior of the Garage to Dillon, along with Dana and Joel for company.

“I thought you two were guarding Truman,” Dillon said as the computers registered dawn.  He was cleaning up the last of the decorations they’d put up the day before.  They had been planning a birthday party for Doctor K.

“Truman, the Landsdowns, and Mister McAllister all relocated to the Colonel’s house for the night,” Joel replied, “Conner, Trent, Tommy, and Blake are standing guard.  Seeing as Kim got Zack to second her on body guarding Tenaya, Dana and I volunteered to be here.”

“We appreciate that,” Dillon replied.  It had been nice to talk with Joel and Dana without audience.  They had known him before, but not well enough that he saw that jarring distress whenever he acted like Dillon and not James.

“We’re happy to help,” Dana said, “I never felt as useless as I did when I came here.  I mean, intellectually, I knew that one of us had to come with the kids, and Reggie needed me badly.  It’s just that we knew, no matter what we told the kids, we knew that Kelsey and Joel probably wouldn’t come to Corinth.  Not with C-Carter and Chad already gone.”

Dillon had read the reports about Venjix, and he knew that people started taking the AI seriously after the attack on the rebuilt Lightspeed Aquabase.  Venjix had sealed the base off from outside contact in the middle of the night, pulled all the air out and then flooded the base.  In less than an hour, the entire base had died, including Carter Grayson and Chad Lee.

“I’m sorry,” Dillon said finally, “I don’t remember them.”

Dana laughed, “You used to pester Carter for marksman training whenever you could.  Once you decided you were going to be Phoenix’s Black Ranger, you wanted everyone to teach you.”

“That’s not embarrassing,” Dillon muttered as his ears and cheeks began to feel warm.

“You had a lot of admirers, JD,” Joel said.  “You worked to earn that morpher.  I remember that Carlos had a speech he was going to give you when you demanded that you get the morpher.  He was speechless when you just asked him what he was looking for in the next Black Astro, and would it be to forward of you to ask to be considered for the position.  It really impressed him and got you a lot of respect.”

Dillon rubbed the back of his neck, “Feel free to stop talking at any time.”

“It’s not that bad,” Scott called, startling them.

“Shouldn’t you be sleeping or something?”  Dillon demanded.

“Oh-six thirty, JD,” Scott said as he bounced down the stairs, “Can’t go running, but that doesn’t mean I’ll sleep in.”

“ _You_ are not allowed to call me JD,” Dillon told him sharply.

“I kind of like it,” Scott said, “have you been to bed yet?”

“Does it matter and I don’t care,” Dillon said.

“You let Joel do it, and yes, I care if you’re too tired to fight a battle today.”  Scott said as he walked past Dillon towards his car.

“I won’t,” Dillon said.

“And JD doesn’t _let_ me do anything,” Joel said, “I earned that right.”

Scott looked between Joel and Dillon and held his hands up, “Sorry,” he said.  “Flynn said he’d make omelets later.”

“Give me half an hour,” Flynn called down to them from outside Summer’s room.  “I want to shower.”

After breakfast, Hailey and Doctor Stewart arrived to start monitoring the sensors.  They shooed Gem and Gemma into the Garage as they went, leaving the Rangers to stare at each other, unsure of what to do.

“Maybe we should,” Scott began, only for the alarms to be set off.

“Oh thank you,” Summer muttered, “Something to do.”

They headed for the cars and Dillon hesitated, turning to check for Ziggy.  As he saw Joel watching them leave, Dillon remembered that Ziggy wouldn’t be there today.  For the first time in nearly a year, Dillon would be facing battle without his best friend and boyfriend.  As Scott’s car squealed out of the Garage, Dillon shook his head and threw himself into his car.

As he roared out of the Garage, Dillon’s morpher activated.  “There is an attack bot and several Grinders located in sector eight,” Hailey said.

Dillon clinched his fist, because he’d forgotten that Doc wouldn’t be in their ear for this battle either.  It only highlighted the surreal nature of this battle.  Usually he would be listening to Ziggy wildly speculate as to what the attack bot would look like this time and Doctor K shooting down each of his theories with pure logic.  This time, the only sound was his engine growling as he pushed it to keep just behind Scott and Flynn.  He couldn’t believe there had been a time when his engine was all the sound he’d really needed.

Dillon forced himself to focus on the attack bot as they arrived at the site.  The robot was huge, and had an aura of malevolence that Dillon remembered from the last time they met Venjix.  And this time, Ziggy wasn’t here either.

“We meet again Rangers,” the bot declared in that chillingly familiar voice.

“Venjix,” Scott spat, “Ready for another beating.”

“You will not defeat me so easily this time.”  Venjix said.

Scott snorted, “I bet it’ll be even easier.”

“Where is your green ranger?”  Venjix asked.

“I should be asking you that,” Dillon heard himself snarl.

“It does not matter,” Venjix said, “we will find him later.”

“RPM,” Scott called.

“Get in Gear,” they all called together.

“Let’s go,” Scott said, and he led Flynn and Summer into a first attack.

“Rocket Blaster,” Dillon growled, and followed their attack with several shots.

“Your attacks are nothing to me!”  Venjix roared.

Suddenly their radios came online, “Ranger Red, this is Hailey do you copy?”

“Here,” Scott said.

Dillon lunged forward to help Flynn and Summer cover their leader.

“We just received the signal of a second attack bot in the Dome.”

Scott muttered something that Dillon was willing to bet was a swear word.  Even as Dillon drew his nitro sword, he knew what Scott was thinking.  They couldn’t let any attack bot run loose in the city, but this was Venjix, who had to be destroyed.  Maybe if Ziggy had been here, Scott could have sent him with Dillon to hold or handle the other bot, but Ziggy wasn’t here.

Dillon drew back, “Doctor Stewart, you still in the Garage?”

“I’m here,” Doctor Stewart replied.

“Got an answer to that question I asked you last night?”  Dillon asked, firing several shots at Venjix.

“How about this be your answer,” another voice cut in.

“David?”  Scott said.

“At your service, Ranger Red.  We’ll hold this one; I believe you call him Shifter, until you get here.”  David said.

“How?”  Scott said.

“Like this,” David replied.

Five distinct voices shouted out, “SPD Emergency!”

“You worry about Venjix,” David said, “we’ll keep this guy busy.”

Scott stood still, and Dillon knew the other Ranger was fighting his instinctive dislike of the other man versus the needs of the city.  “We’ll be there as soon as we can,” he said finally and dropped his wrist.

“Guys,” Summer called, “Where are Gem and Gemma?”


	44. The Next Step

The door to the room where Ziggy and Doctor K were being held swung open and Ziggy scrambled to his feet.  He forced himself to appear emotionless as Fresno Bob stepped in.  The genial mafia don mask was gone, leaving behind the man who had killed seven cartel bosses on his way to leading the Scorpion Cartel; the man who had built up the cartel, and had killed his own son for disloyalty.

“Ziggy Grover,” Fresno Bob said.

“It’s actually Zigreal McKnight,” Ziggy replied as he squared his shoulders, “of Earth and AdonKrev, son of Ordan, foster son of Conner McKnight, Ranger Operator Series Green.”

“It does not matter,” Bob replied, “you owe me a debt.”

“It may be that I do,” Ziggy said, “but what has Emma ever done to you?”

“She was with you,” Bob said, “that is enough.”

Ziggy kept his face impassive, but that didn’t stop Doctor K, “You honestly think that’s a good enough reason to hold me?”  She began.

Ziggy wrapped his arm around K’s shoulders and muffled her voice.  Grateful that K didn’t have siblings and didn’t know to lick his hand, he leaned over, “Please don’t antagonize the gentlemen with guns, Emma.”

“Listen to your boyfriend, Em _ma_ ,” Bob said.

Ziggy pushed her behind him, aware that his slender frame looked ridiculous against a former heavy weight boxer who had ended his career with a death.  “I owe you a debt,” he said firmly.

“And here I thought you’d deny that,” Bob said.

“I’ve never denied that I owed you,” Ziggy replied.

“Then why did you run?”  Bob asked, “Or better yet, why did you come back?”

“Unfinished business,” Ziggy replied.

“And yet you still owe me.”

Ziggy smiled, “I’ll take that debt to my grave.”

Bob spread his hands out, “Ah, but you are here, within my grasp.  You will do what I tell you.”

Ziggy wanted to laugh, oh how he wanted to laugh.  Fresno Bob just did not get it.  Ziggy’s treatment at their hands, whatever they forced upon him, it would be with the caveat of keeping K safe and unharmed.  Bob’s debt could only be paid if there were no ulterior motive on Ziggy’s part.

“What do I have to do to get Emma out of this?”  Ziggy asked instead.  He doubted they’d let her go, but he had to try.  Besides, bargaining down to immunity in that room, with food and drink at regular intervals would make them think they won.

End Game GIG End Game GIG End Game

Scott scanned the area around them, looking for Gem and Gemma. 

“What the hell?”  Dillon growled beside him.

Scott glanced at Venjix and made a snap decision, “Dillon, go look.  Flynn, Summer, on me.”  He touched his belt, “Street saber.”

“No need,” Gem shouted.

“For that.”  Gemma finished.

Scott turned to find them coming around Flynn’s truck carrying some kind of sword.  “Sorry,” Gem said as he trotted up to them, “A friend of Doctor K sent us this.”  He held up the sword.  “It’s the Rail Saber.  Doctor K was going to scrap it but apparently he was able to fix.”

Scott glanced over Flynn’s truck and saw a man sitting on a bike watching them.  For a moment before he pulled on his helmet, Scott thought he was staring at a ghost.  “Scott,” Flynn said, “time to finish this?”

“Absolutely,” Scott replied.  “Gem, your show.”

Gem grinned at him and held up his morpher, “RPM Get in Gear!”  He turned to Venjix and held up two engine cells that Scott recognized from the Paleomax Zord.  Reminded of the train based Zords, Scott realized that the sword had a train theme.  _Rail Saber,_ Scott thought, _right._

“Venjix,” Gem said, “it’s time for you to go down.”  He inserted the cells, “Rail Saber, Engine Cell activate.”

“Your toy will not work,” Venjix declared.

“Good thing it’s not a toy,” Gemma said as Gem raced forward.

The sword glowed gold for a moment, then Gem brought it down with a light so bright that Scott’s helmet polarized for agonizing minutes.  All he could hear was explosions.  When his helmet cleared, Scott found that Venjix was a very different prospect when he had a missing arm.

“This body as failed me for the last time,” Venjix announced as it began to beep.

“Get down,” Scott shouted, diving to knock Flynn over.  He looked over to see Dillon pulling Summer behind him as his shield wet up.  Gem and Gemma, unable to get out of the way, were thrown in the air as Venjix’s robotic body exploded.

“Everyone ok?”  Scott asked as soon as the explosion was over.

“Bruised,” Gem reported.

“Sore,” Gemma said.

“And squished,” Flynn muttered.

“Sorry,” Scott said as he rolled off Flynn.  “We need to get to Shifter now.  Is everyone good to fight?”

“My suits a bit low,” Dillon said.  “I won’t be able to shield for a while.”

“We’ll keep that in mind,” Scott replied as they powered down.  “Let’s get going.”

They scrambled into their respective vehicles and Scott took a moment to look for the rider on a bike, but the man was gone.  He started the car and told himself that Jinx was dead; he couldn’t possibly be fixing weapons for Doctor K or delivering them.

They were halfway to the new battle site when the radios came to life.  “Scott, this is Hailey.”

“Scott here,” Scott replied.

“Charlie and Xander just got a location for Doctor K and Ziggy.”

Scott hesitated, “We’re a little…”

“Dillon!”  Flynn said.

Scott glanced in his side mirror in time to see the rear end of the Fury vanishing down a side street.  He shook his head slightly, “Scratch that.  Get Dillon the coordinates to Ziggy and Doc K’s location.  Get him some defense squads for back up.  They’ll need Ziggy’s morpher.”

“Charlie and Xander just left,” Hailey said, “morpher in hand.  Justin and I are sitting on Conner, but Trent and Blake are bringing Defense back up.”

For a brief moment, Scott thought he heard someone shouting in the background.  “Tell Conner that if he can morph he’s welcome to join them, but if he can’t he should find the first aid kit in the kitchen and be prepared.”

There was a long pause, “He heard you,” Hailey said, “and he’s swearing up a storm that he can’t morph.”

Scott laughed, “I know the feeling, Hailey.  Thanks for the update.”

“Not a problem,” Hailey said.  “Keeping Justin on Conner means we can interrogate him later about SPD.”

“I’m probably a horrible person,” Scott said, “but I agree with that.”

They rounded a final corner and Scott took in the battle before them.  Five Rangers in Red, Yellow, Blue, Pink, and Green had surrounded Shifter.  They were holding him with minimal property damage, but Scott could see a few hesitant moves that told him just how inexperienced the team was when compared to his own people.

Scott stopped the car and slid out, “Hey David, thanks for containment.”

“Not a problem,” David replied as he backed up from the attack.  “Tough little bastard, isn’t he?”

“He’s a Gen Five Venjix General,” Scott replied.  “It won’t be that difficult to pull him down.”  He glanced back at Flynn, Summer, Gem, and Gemma.  “Let’s do this.”

“RPM Get in Gear!”

Morphed, Scott waved his hand, “Let us try something,” he said as he touched his belt, “Street saber.”

“You’re thinking the Road Blaster?”  Flynn asked as he balanced his gun on his shoulder.

“Why not?”  Summer replied.

They brought the weapons together.  “Road Blaster,” Scott called as Summer slammed the Zip Charger home, “Engine Cell activate.”

“Fire!”  They shouted together.

Shifter’s dented and sparking body was very much the worse for wear after that attack.

“Let’s try something new,” Gem said.  He lifted the Rail Saber and combined it with his Nitro Blaster, “Rail Blaster,” he declared.  “Fire!”

It was almost enough.  Scott knew that had they had the Enforcer or even the Plasma Launcher, they’d have taken down Shifter, but now he wasn’t sure they had the energy for another strike.

“How about a little help,” David said as he gripped Scott’s shoulder.  In his other hand, he held a metal bone.

“Let’s see what you got,” Scott replied.

There was a distant dog barking as David chucked the bone in the air, “Canine Canon!”

A robot dog leapt over the other SPD Rangers to grab the bone.  As it bit down on the bone, it changed, becoming a respectably sized gun that the Rangers braced.

“Fire!”  SPD shouted together.

As Scott had thought, that was the end of Shifter as anything more than sparks and rusty parts.

“Good boy Doc,” the Green Ranger said, catching Scott’s attention.

“Doc?”  Flynn asked.

“Doctor,” Blue said challengingly, “Digitally Optimized and Coded Titanium Enhanced Robot.”

“Robodog,” Pink and Green said.

“It’s Robodog not Robot, because there’s a different, he’s a dog that’s a robot,” Green began.

“Right Bridge,” David said.

Reminded, Scott lifted his morpher, “Doc, any news on the others?”

“Dillon is taking Ziggy and K to the hospital to check in with Doctor Dana,” Hailey said.  “Conner and Justin went to join them.  I’ll hold down the fort until Kim and Zack can get here with Tenaya.”

“We’ll see you soon,” Scott replied.  He turned to the SPD Rangers, “You’re welcome to wait for us at the Garage.  I’m sure everyone has questions.”

“I’m glad Ziggy’s okay man,” David said.

“We all are,” Yellow added.

“Power down,” Scott said, and then turned to his team, “Let’s go get Ziggy.”

“We’ll see you at the Garage,” David called as his own team powered down.

Scott knew the other Rangers, and he hadn’t been surprised to see Sky in blue.  His few interactions with Elizabeth had shown him a natural Yellow, but he didn’t actually know Sydney, and could only hope that she was comfortable in Pink.

“Scott, you coming?”  Summer called.

“Yes,” Scott replied, pulled from his thoughts.

End Game GiG End Game GiG End Game

 

Dillon found himself in one of the worst neighborhoods in Corinth.  His GPS led him to a large warehouse that overshadowed an office building.  He eased his car in behind the warehouse, and shut the engine off.  As he slid out of the car, the door to the warehouse opened and a man in a Defense uniform stepped out.

“Get inside,” the man called.

Dillon strode forward, quickly identifying Ziggy’s brother Chase.  “What’s going on Chase?”  He asked as he followed the soldier into the warehouse.

“Ziggy and Doc K are across in that office building,” Chase replied.  “We’re staging the attack from here.  I’ll let Major Bradley explain the rest.”

Blake Bradley, Trent Fernandez, Xander, and Charlie were standing around a folding table looking at a sheet of paper.  Blake looked up as they approached, “Dillon,” he said.

“What’s the plan?”  Dillon asked.

“You, Xander, and Charlie will morph and take the lead,” Blake said.  “Chase’s squad will be right behind you.  Chase has Ziggy’s morpher and a spare shirt in case he needs it.  Charlie will be in charge of first aid.  Once you’ve penetrated the building, Xander will guide you to Ziggy and K.  We’ll follow forty-five seconds after you enter.  You need to find and retrieve K and Ziggy.  If you see this man, Fresno Bob, let Chase take him into custody.  He’ll have a proper trial, but there’s no doubt he’ll be hanged for war crimes.”

“And if he resists?”  Dillon asked quietly.

“Take care of it,” Blake replied in an equally quiet tone.

Not long after Dillon had learned of his past, he’d had an evening sword lesson with Blake.  Like most of his fighting skills, it had been more of a reminder than an actual lesson.  At the end of it, he’d had a glass of whiskey with Blake and they’d ended up talking about the Wasteland.  Blake was the only person in Corinth who knew some of Dillon’s darkest stories.  They both knew what Dillon was capable of if he was pushed enough.

“We’re breeching the doors in five,” Blake said, “I suggest you get ready.”

“Right,” Dillon said.

As he slid the engine cell home, Dillon reflected that he was tired and he hoped this wouldn’t take too long.  Besides, humans had nothing to do with Venjix, even in this context.

“RPM Get in Gear,” he called.

“Magical Force, Mystic Force,” Xander and Charlie shouted.

They looked at each other for a moment, and then Dillon turned to Chase, “Is your squad ready?”

“We’re standing by at the door.  Bob has probably got cameras, but no visible guards outside.”  Chase replied.

“Let’s go then,” Dillon said.

He pushed open the front door of the warehouse, ignoring Chase’s protest and strode across to the office building, pulling his nitro blaster as he walked.  He shoved open the glass doors and stalked in as the guards inside cursed and reached for their weapons.  Dillon laughed, “Don’t even bother,” he told them.  “You people are fucked and you don’t even know it yet.”  He lifted the blaster and pointed it at the youngest of the group, “Where is Ziggy?”

“I- I,” the man stuttered.

Dillon shook his head and pointed at the next Guard, “Ziggy and the girl.  Now.”

“You know, I’d do what he says,” Xander commented.  “He’ll just shoot you or beat the crap out of you.”

“I’ll show you,” one of the guards said.  “Just don’t…”

“Don’t what?  Hurt you?”  Dillon asked, “Kidnap you?”

“Yes?”  The guard whimpered.

“Tell me what I want to know and I’ll make sure you have a nice prison cell,” Dillon replied.

“That way,” the guard said, pointing down one of the hallways.

“I got the rest of them,” Charlie said, “go.”

Dillon barely waited; he followed the guard’s directions down the hallway.  They walked into a large space where several guards with weapons were hanging around just as more shouts from the front door caught everyone’s attention.

“The Defense is here,” Xander said as he and Charlie flanked Dillon.

Dillon fired a single shot at the ceiling.  “All right,” he called as the guards stared at him, “We’re here for our friends.  Show us where they are, and we’ll leave you to deal with the defense.  Resist us, and you won’t like the consequences.”

“Please,” someone said, “there’s only…”

A potted plant near the room’s lone window stirred and thick vines surged out of it to grab the speaker and several others.  “In case you’ve forgotten the uniforms,” Charlie said casually, “We’re the _Mystic Force._   We’re not just Power Rangers or Knights, we’re sorcerers.  My husband is very good with plants.  I’m more into… electricity.”

Several of the lights flickered and then shattered as lightening arched downwards, barely missing some of the guards.

“Ziggy,” Dillon growled.

Several men pointed toward another hallway.  “There are guards,” one of the men tied up in the plant called.  “You can’t miss them.”

Dillon growled and moved on.  Behind him Xander paused, “Thank you for your cooperation.”

The guards were indeed visible.  A half dozen of them formed a line across the hallway, guns raised.  “I got this,” Charlie said.  “I’m sorry Dillon; I have to say this first.  My oath as a knight demands it.”

“Fine,” Dillon said.

“You have a choice,” Charlie called ahead of them, “surrender peacefully or fight.  If you choose to fight, you will be hurt and defeated.  You may possibly die.  If you surrender, you will be restrained for the Defense forces that are sweeping the building.”

“We have our orders,” one of the men shouted back even as others began to lower their weapon.

“Fine,” Charlie said.  Dillon wasn’t certain what words Charlie used but a yellow streak flew down the hall and tied up those whose guns had wavered.  “I cannot accept one person’s word for everyone, however.  Dillon, they’re yours.”

Dillon clenched his fist, “Gladly.”

It was a farce.  None of the men had the training or strength to go up against a Power Ranger, much less a Ranger both stronger and faster than they were.  Especially not a Ranger whose training had been honed by a year in the Wastelands.

In seconds the four guards who had stood against them were down and groaning.  Charlie shook his head as he approached, “Nice,” he commented.

“Just doing my job.”  Dillon replied.  He lifted his blaster and shot the door they had been guarding, the only reinforced steel door he’d seen so far.  The Nitro Blaster dented the door, but not enough.  Dillon growled and summoned his Rocket Blaster and fired again.  The door buckled and fell off its hinges.  From the yell, it had knocked at least one person over.

Dillon walked over the door and into a room with three men.  One he’d seen before, at the racetrack when Ziggy had become the Green Ranger.  The other man Dillon recognized was Ziggy.  His green shirt was torn.  Most of it was on the floor at Ziggy’s feet, with a few tatters hanging from his belt and around his neck.  He had a deep purple bruise over half his face and his ribs were littered with fist-sized bruises.

Dillon turned the Rocket Blaster on the man he recognized and pointed the Nitro Blaster at the other man.  “Please resist,” he said as politely as he could manage.  “I’m having a very bad day and that would make me feel a lot better.”

The man and his partner put their hands up, both clearly terrified.

“Damn,” Xander muttered.  “Ziggy, let’s go.”

“Behind you,” Ziggy yelled as he threw himself back.

Dillon turned to find that the man from under the door was lunging at him with a sharp knife and a crazed glint in his eye.  He threw himself to the side, fighting to bring his guns around in time.

A gunshot echoed through the room and the man collapsed.

Chase McKnight stood in the doorway, calmly lowering his side arm.

“Chase,” Ziggy said, sounding stunned.

“Hey,” Chase said.  He pulled something out of his pocket, “I believe this is yours.”

Ziggy’s morpher arched in the air and Ziggy caught it easily.  “Thank you.”

“Where’s…”

“Emma’s in that room,” Ziggy pointed at the left wall.  Dillon stared at him for a long moment, and then turned to see Charlie opening the door he’d missed earlier.

Doctor K stumbled out, looking half-panicked.  Dillon moved to stand between so she wouldn’t notice the body.  “Are you all right?”  He asked her.

“I am,” Doctor K managed after a moment.  “Ziggy.”

“No,” Ziggy said as he started to step forward.  He staggered and started to fall.  Dillon caught him and steadied him.

A yellow aura surrounded Ziggy for a long moment.  “He’s got a broken rib,” Charlie announced, “and he’s dehydrated.  Did they give you any water?”

“No,” Doctor K replied.

“Then we’re going to the hospital,” Dillon said.

“I’ll be fine,” Ziggy murmured.

“Humor me,” Dillon said.  He watched as the Defense people moved the door out of the way to bring in a stretcher.  “Just let Doctor Dana check you over, ok?”  He steered Ziggy onto the stretcher and watched as Doctor K perched on the end of it.

They were met by the team at the hospital, and they watched as Doctor Dana swept Ziggy away with Charlie and Xander’s son Lance on her heels.  Doctor K was also examined by a doctor, with Gem and Gemma hovering over her.

Dillon watched them all fuss over her, smiling as she sipped the water she was given and answering their questions with a hint of her caustic tongue.  “Dillon,” Scott said, appearing beside him.

“Yes?”  Dillon asked after a moment.

“They’re home safe,” Scott said.  “We’ll watch them, you can stand down.”

Dillon studied his Red Ranger for a long moment, and then nodded.  He allowed Charlie to take his arm and steer him into a seat and he took the cup of water that Xander offered him.  Something in him began to relax as he waited, watching his teammates scanning the room, standing guard for him.

End Game GiG End Game GiG End Game

Their return to the Garage was not the easy if joyful trip Dillon imagined.  Not when the doors were standing wide open and five morphed figures were holding their blasters on Tenaya.

“What the hell is going on here?”  Scott demanded as he got out of his car.

“This isn’t Tenaya,” the other Red Ranger said.

“David,” Scott said.

“I know the difference between a cyborg and a robot,” Green said firmly.  “That’s not a cyborg.”

Tenaya watched them for a long moment then laughed, “He’s right, you know.”  She said after a moment.

“Who are you?”  Dillon demanded.

“Tenaya-bot 15, Venjix Human Infiltration Attack Bot,” she replied coldly.  “You honestly thought you could implant a virus into the Venjix mainframe and have it not be detected?”

“Where’s Tenaya?”  Summer shouted.

“She’s been… taken care of by my master.  After all, she was clearly defective,” Tenaya-bot said.

There was a crackling static noise, and Ziggy appeared behind the attack bot, one arm wrapping calmly around her throat.  “Where is she?”  He asked calmly.

“Gone, gone from this world,” Tenaya-bot replied, “and if she isn’t now, she will be soon.”

The Tenaya-bot exploded in black and green lightening.  Dillon watched as she fell, becoming nothing more than a misshapen, charred lump.  Ziggy looked at Dillon, then Scott.  “I’m getting really fucking tired of Venjix impersonating our sisters.”

“Then we’ll have to do something about that,” Dillon replied, “after you’re healed.”  He stepped forward and pulled Ziggy into a hug.  He still couldn’t believe he’d come so close to nearly loosing the smaller man.

“Doctor K,” Doctor Stewart said behind him, “I think you should see this.  We’re getting results from Dolphin.”

“Of course,” Doctor K replied.

“She just got out of the hospital,” Scott protested.

“I’m only looking, Scott,” Doctor K said.  “Then I’m going to get some sleep.”

Dillon turned to watch as Doctor K typed at one of the screens in the briefing room.  Moments later, a map of what Dillon recognized as the area around Corinth sprung to life.  There were several pulses around the city marking a half circle.

“Are those…”  Scott began.

“Venjix facilities,” Doctor K replied.  “If the information from the bot was accurate, these are where Venjix makes the attack bots we face.”

“Then we’ll have to do something about it,” Scott said.  He turned, “David, can we count on you?”

“We can hold the city,” the Red Ranger replied as his group powered down.  “We can’t go directly against Venjix the way you can, though.  We were created for the next battle, the one against Grumm.  But as far as it is in our power, we’ll help.”

Dillon studied the five; he knew them, David, Sky, Bridge, Syd, and Elizabeth.

“I’m sorry,” Doctor K said, “but who are you?”

“We’re the Sol Planetary Defense,” David replied.  “Our mission is to protect the integrity of the entire Sol System against outside invaders, specifically Emperor Grumm of the Troobian Empire.  We activated early to assist in taking down General Shifter, and we’re honored to assist as the need arises.”

“Basically, we protect all the planets in the Sol System,” Sky said, “not just Earth.  Right now, we’re limited to Earth because of Venjix, so helping you take him down is important.”

“And we’ll start by taking out Venjix’s factories,” Scott said, staring at the map.

“And we’ll find Rebecca and Jessie,” Ziggy said, still in Dillon’s arms.

Dillon pressed a kiss against the top of Ziggy’s head.  “We’ll find them,” he murmured.

End Game GiG End Game GiG End Game

Her first impression of the room was white.  Her second, after having been shoved to the ground by the Grinders, was also of white.  The room was a rectangle, extending to her left to a large, matte black square on the far wall.  As she began to get up, the door behind her hissed open and someone fell on her with a yelp.  Moments later, she found herself staring at a woman with long, black hair in a purple cat suit. 

“Are you ok?”  She asked.

“I’ve had better moments,” the woman said as she pushed herself to her knees.  “Where are we?”

“The Testing Room,” the girl told her.  “No one who comes in here ever comes out.”

“Well then,” the woman said, “I refuse to meet my fate on my knees.”

The girl hesitated, and then scrambled up after the woman, “You’re right.”  She studied the woman’s face, “Rebecca?”

The woman stared at her for a long moment, “I think I once was,” she said finally.  “I don’t remember.  I’m called Tenaya.”

The girl smiled, “My name is Jessie McKnight.”

“Are you Ziggy’s sister?”  Tenaya asked.

“I am, do you know where he is?  Is he safe?”  Jessie asked.

“It’s a very long story,” Tenaya replied.  “But he was okay the last time I saw him.”

A hum began to emit from the black square at the end of the room and the two turned to face it.  Jessie reached out and tangled her fingers in Tenaya’s own.  When Tenaya looked at her, Jessie gave her a trembling smile, “To remind us that we’re not alone.”

Whatever Tenaya would have replied, Jessie never heard.  A black beam emerged from the square and enveloped them.

When the darkness faded, the room was empty.

 _“Hmmm,”_ a mechanical voice announced over a speaker, _“A successful test.  Master Venjix will be pleased that the humans proved so useful.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get in Gear is now complete! The sequel... Pedal to the Metal... will be coming out soon!


End file.
